Academic literature on the topic 'Black Star (Picture agency)'

ImportanceGiven the growth of home health agency (HHA) care, it is important to understand whether quality reporting programs, such as star ratings, are associated with improved patient outcomes.ObjectiveTo assess the immediate and long-term association of the introduction of HHA star ratings with patient-level quality outcomes, comparing claims-based and agency-reported measures.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis cross-sectional study used Medicare HHA claims and agency-reported assessments to identify sequential patient episodes (ie, spells) among US adults with traditional Medicare who received HHA care (2013-2019). An interrupted time series (ITS) model was used to measure changes in trends and levels before and after the introduction of star ratings. Statistical analysis was performed from November 2022 to September 2023.ExposureThe exposure was the introduction of HHA star ratings. The postexposure period was set as starting January 1, 2016, to account for the period when both star ratings (quality of patient care and patient satisfaction rating) were publicly reported.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe main outcomes included claims-based hospitalization measures (both during the patient spell and 30 days after HHA discharge) and agency-reported functional measures, such as improvement in ambulation, bathing, and bed transferring. There was also a measure to capture timely initiation of care among post–acute care HHA users, defined as HHA care initiated within 2 days of inpatient discharge.ResultsThis study identified 22 958 847 patient spells to compare annual changes over time; 9 750 689 patient spells were included during the pre–star ratings period from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2015 (6 067 113 [62.2%] female; 1 100 145 [11.3%] Black, 512 487 [5.3%] Hispanic, 7 845 197 [80.5%] White; 2 656 124 [27.2%] dual eligible; mean [SD] patient spell duration, 70.9 [124.9] days; mean [SD] age, 77.4 [12.0] years); 13 208 158 patient spells were included during the post–star ratings period from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2019 (8 104 69 [61.4%] female; 1 385 180 [10.5%] Black, 675 536 [5.1%] Hispanic, 10 664 239 [80.7%] White; 3 318 113 [25.1%] dual eligible; mean [SD] patient spell duration, 65.3 [96.2] days; mean [SD] age, 77.7 [11.6] years). Results from the ITS models found that the introduction of star ratings was associated with an acceleration in the mean [SE] hospitalization rate during the spell (0.39% [0.05%] per year) alongside functional improvements in ambulation (2.40% [0.29%] per year), bed transferring (3.95% [0.48%] per year) and bathing (2.34% [0.19%] per year) (P < .001). This occurred alongside a 1.21% (0.12%) per year reduction in timely initiation of care (P < .001).Conclusions and RelevanceThis cross-sectional study found an observed improvement in agency-reported functional measures, which contrasted with slower increases in more objective measures such as hospitalization rates and declines in timely initiation of care. These findings suggest a complex picture of HHA quality of care after the introduction of star ratings.

Abstract This article discusses two children’s picture books, The Snail and the Whale (2003), written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, and The Secret of Black Rock (2017) by Joe Todd-Stanton, as vibrant and fantastic engagements with multispecies worlds. Drawing on new materialism and multispecies studies, the article argues that these two picture books exemplify the possibilities inherent in children’s literature of imaging encounters with multispecies communities and apprehending the dynamic agencies of the material world. With reference to the real marine animals and environments alluded to by the books, it addresses the limitations and opportunities of anthropomorphism, and the significance of the concept of agency in the environmental humanities and children’s literature studies. It argues that the gleeful rhymes of The Snail and the Whale and the awe-inspiring illustrations of The Secret of Black Rock are not mere entertainment but serious and playful explorations of connections between bodies and language, stories and communities, children and adults, human and non-human animals, rocks and fish, and agency and the more-than-human world.

SummaryA “typical” GRB occurs in a star-forming region of a galaxy at a redshift z~1. In currently popular models, it is caused by the collapse of a massive star which has exhausted its nuclear fuel supply. The star collapses to a black hole threaded by a strong magnetic field, and possibly fed by an accretion torus. Through a variety of processes, electrons are accelerated and gamma-rays, X-rays, optical light, and radio emission ensue, with durations from seconds to years. In this talk, I will review the general observational properties of bursts, their afterglows and host galaxies, and some of the open questions about them.

Evidence for dark matter (DM) was originally discovered in 1933 by Zwicky (Zwicky 1933, 1937), and has defied all explanations since then. The original discovery was based on the motions of galaxies in clusters of galaxies. The MicroWave Back Ground (MWBG) observations by the Planck mission and other satellites give definitive numbers. Galaxy correlations give results down to small galaxies, which match theoretical expectations. Here we focus on a few interesting aspects, that may allow to determine the nature of dark matter: (1) Ultra Faint Dwarf (UFD) galaxies, that represent the oldest galaxies known. UFDs are almost devoid of baryonic matter. (2) Calculations show that there can be super-sonic flow of baryonic matter. It follows that there are ubiquitous shockwaves; commonly oblique they generate vorticity. (3) Early virialized clumps, mini-halos, have a density that is consistent with the density implied by Super Massive Black Holes (SMBHs) today, if we assume that SMBHs grow by merging, akin to the Press & Schechter (1974) picture for galaxies. This implies that the oldest SMBHs observed today give powerful constraints on the very early phases.

AbstractWe present the results of recent studies on the co-evolution of galaxies and the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) using Herschel far-infrared and Chandra X-ray observations in the Boötes survey region. For a sample of star-forming (SF) galaxies, we find a strong correlation between galactic star formation rate and the average SMBH accretion rate in SF galaxies. Recent studies have shown that star formation and AGN accretion are only weakly correlated for individual AGN, but this may be due to the short variability timescale of AGN relative to star formation. Averaging over the full AGN population yields a strong linear correlation between accretion and star formation, consistent with a simple picture in which the growth of SMBHs and their host galaxies are closely linked over galaxy evolution time scales.

We present new upper limits for black hole masses in extremely late type spiral galaxies. We confirm that this class of galaxies has black holes with masses less than 106M⊙, if any. We also derive new upper limits for nuclear star cluster masses in massive galaxies with previously determined black hole masses. We use the newly derived upper limits and a literature compilation to study the low mass end of the global-to-nucleus relations. We find the following. (1) TheMBH-σrelation cannot flatten at low masses, but may steepen. (2) TheMBH-Mbulgerelation may well flatten in contrast. (3) TheMBH-Sersicnrelation is able to account for the large scatter in black hole masses in low-mass disk galaxies. Outliers in theMBH-Sersicnrelation seem to be dwarf elliptical galaxies. When plottingMBHversusMNCwe find three different regimes: (a) nuclear cluster dominated nuclei, (b) a transition region, and (c) black hole-dominated nuclei. This is consistent with the picture, in which black holes form inside nuclear clusters with a very low-mass fraction. They subsequently grow much faster than the nuclear cluster, destroying it when the ratioMBH/MNCgrows above 100. Nuclear star clusters may thus be the precursors of massive black holes in galaxy nuclei.

AbstractAlthough CI Cam, which showed an outburst in April 1998, has been regarded as a soft X-ray transient (SXT) harboring a, black hole, it has some characteristics that can hardly be reconciled with the SXT picture. In this paper, we propose a white dwarf as the central accreting star in CI Cam.

AbstractHigh-resolution seeing limited and adaptive optics near-infrared imaging observations of the stellar cluster within about one parsec of the massive black hole Sagittarius A* allow us to obtain a detailed picture of the structure of the nuclear star cluster of the Milky Way. We find that the stellar number counts and the diffuse light of the unresolved stellar population can be described very well by a stellar density function in the form of a broken-power law. This agrees well with theoretical predictions on the structure of a dynamically relaxed star cluster around a massive black hole. However, the cusp slope is found to be too shallow, which may be related to mixing of different stellar populations and continuous star formation, phenomena that are not taken into account by current theory. Mass densities larger than 107 solar masses per pc3 are reached within 0.1 pc of the central black hole. Intriguingly, up to several tens of percent of the total cluster mass in the central parsec may be in the form of dark stellar remnants.

Context. The recently claimed discovery of a massive (MBH = 68−13+11 M⊙) black hole in the Galactic solar neighborhood has led to controversial discussions because it severely challenges our current view of stellar evolution. Aims. A crucial aspect for the determination of the mass of the unseen black hole is the precise nature of its visible companion, the B-type star LS V+22 25. Because stars of different mass can exhibit B-type spectra during the course of their evolution, it is essential to obtain a comprehensive picture of the star to unravel its nature and, thus, its mass. Methods. To this end, we study the spectral energy distribution of LS V+22 25 and perform a quantitative spectroscopic analysis that includes the determination of chemical abundances for He, C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Al, Si, S, Ar, and Fe. Results. Our analysis clearly shows that LS V+22 25 is not an ordinary main sequence B-type star. The derived abundance pattern exhibits heavy imprints of the CNO bi-cycle of hydrogen burning, that is, He and N are strongly enriched at the expense of C and O. Moreover, the elements Mg, Al, Si, S, Ar, and Fe are systematically underabundant when compared to normal main-sequence B-type stars. We suggest that LS V+22 25 is a stripped helium star and discuss two possible formation scenarios. Combining our photometric and spectroscopic results with the Gaia parallax, we infer a stellar mass of 1.1 ± 0.5 M⊙. Based on the binary system’s mass function, this yields a minimum mass of 2–3 M⊙ for the compact companion, which implies that it may not necessarily be a black hole but a massive neutron- or main sequence star. Conclusions. The star LS V+22 25 has become famous for possibly having a very massive black hole companion. However, a closer look reveals that the star itself is a very intriguing object. Further investigations are necessary for complete characterization of this object.

Propelled into black popular culture by their appearance on HBOs Real Sex 24 in 2000, Jessica Holter’s Punany Poets have been touring and performing erotic performance poetry, song and dance to bolster black female sexual agency for over twenty-five years. This critical performance analysis of “Cucumber Cu Cum Her,” a duet between veteran lesbian spoken word artist Lucky Seven and erotic dancer Punany’s Pearl reveals how their erotic condom demonstration literally and discursively propels lesbian sexuality and fantasy into commercial hip-hop’s hyper-masculinist sphere. The duet queer the reviled pimp-ho aesthetic to reimagine rapper-turned-movie star Ice Cube’s 1991 hit “Look Who’s Burnin.’ ” The erotic dancer’s body creates space for women to pleasurably explore their gender identities and sexual fantasies. As a skilled laborer Punany’s Pearl imbues the heretofore-imagined disempowered, objectified, erotic dancer with agency and challenges black respectability politics.

By the early 1950s, Jane Russell (1921-2011) should have been forgotten. Her career was launched on what is arguably the most notorious advertising campaign in cinema history, which invited filmgoers to see Howard Hughes's The Outlaw (1943) and to "tussle with Russell." Throughout the 1940s, she was nicknamed the "motionless picture actress" and had only three films in theaters. With such a slow, inauspicious start, most aspiring actresses would have given up or faded away. Instead, Russell carved out a place for herself in Hollywood and became a memorable and enduring star.Christina Rice offers the first biography of the actress and activist perhaps most well-known for her role in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Despite the fact that her movie career was stalled for nearly a decade, Russell's filmography is respectable. She worked with some of Hollywood's most talented directors—including Howard Hawks, Raoul Walsh, Nicholas Ray, and Josef von Sternberg—and held her own alongside costars such as Marilyn Monroe, Robert Mitchum, Clark Gable, Vincent Price, and Bob Hope. She also learned how to fight back against Howard Hughes, her boss for more than thirty-five years, and his marketing campaigns that exploited her physical appearance.Beyond the screen, Rice reveals Russell as a complex and confident woman. She explores the star's years as a spokeswoman for Playtex as well as her deep faith and work as a Christian vocalist. Rice also discusses Russell's leadership and patronage of the WAIF foundation, which for many years served as the fundraising arm of the International Social Service (ISS) agency. WAIF raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, successfully lobbied Congress to change laws, and resulted in the adoption of tens of thousands of orphaned children. For Russell, the work she did to help unite families overshadowed any of her onscreen achievements.On the surface, Jane Russell seemed to live a charmed life, but Rice illuminates her darker moments and her personal struggles, including her empowered reactions to the controversies surrounding her films and her feelings about being portrayed as a sex symbol. This stunning first biography offers a fresh perspective on a star whose legacy endures not simply because she forged a notable film career, but also because she effectively used her celebrity to benefit others.

Curtiz and Bess purchased a huge estate in the San Fernando Valley.The hillside Tudor house would expand to include a pair of Curtiz’s lesser passions, a polo field and a skeet range. Curtiz became addicted to polo, playing with Zanuck, Walt Disney, Will Rogers, and other Hollywood luminaries. Curtiz directed the daring pre-Code film Mandalay with Kay Francis starring as a prostitute. This film also beganthe strife between Wallis and Curtiz. Curtiz directed the picture as he saw fit, and Wallis peppered him with memos telling him he was shooting too much footage or providing specific production guidance that Curtiz ignored.Hollywood’s pre-Code films generated so much controversy that the studios were forced to appoint Joseph Breen to administer the Production Code in July 1934. Breen zealously censored films, so thatWarners and the other studios were forced to adjust the content of pictures. Curtiz began his relationship with James Cagney with Jimmy the Gent (1933). Cagney respected Curtiz’s abilities but didn’t like his treatment of actors. Curtiz’s films of this period, most notably British Agent and Black Fury, raised his profile; he was poised to direct a major picture that would create one of Warner Bros.’ biggest stars.

This chapter assesses the legacies of athlete activism in the 1960s and 1970s. Although athletes saw financial progress, thanks to baseball player Curt Flood’s efforts to achieve free agency, black athletes such as O. J. Simpson and Michael Jordan often refrained from political activism in order to retain sponsors. Women athletes found new opportunities following Title IX, but funding inequalities for women’s sports persisted, as did sexualized media coverage. In addition, stereotypes limited black athletes’ access to leadership positions, Latinx and transgender athletes faced bitter backlash, and ownership remained almost exclusively white and male. However, following the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2012, a resurgence in athlete activism, including that of WNBA players and football star Colin Kaepernick, pushed for more expansive change in American life.

The book concludes by demonstrating how Freedom Farmers offers a more complex – and empowering – picture of Black people’s relationship to agriculture than in typical portrayals which emphasize oppression and exploitation. Freedom Farmers also offers a rich counterpoint to social movement literature that often focuses on urban narratives of struggle and more obvious resistance strategies, such as protests. Challenging common perceptions about African Americans’ relationship to the land, Freedom Farmers demonstrates the history of Black farmers fighting to maintain their livelihoods and identities as farmers, using agricultural-based strategies to build collective agency and community resilience. This notion of community resilience demonstrated by Freedom Farmers encourages us to expand the concept of social and ecological resilience to account for the structural factors that have caused the ongoing catastrophes of racial and economic oppression. Freedom Farmers uncovers a history of African American farmers’ strategies of collective agency and community resilience to offer a historical grounding and inspiration for current food justice movements in their work toward liberation.

In 1954, Dorothy Dandridge’s career and stardom were approaching their peak: after many years playing small roles on screen and performing on the nightclub circuit she was cast as the lead in Otto Preminger’s all-black musical Carmen Jones, a role that won her an Academy Award nomination. Despite this, Dandridge was ignored by the American fan magazines. Though major mainstream publications like Life, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and Look ran features on her, the top movie magazines such as Photoplay, Modern Screen and Motion Picture downplayed her significance, denying her stardom. This chapter examines one issue of Photoplay from February 1955, which amongst the usual content has a one-page sponsored feature in black and white about Carmen Jones. Using a detailed analysis of the content of this issue, the chapter outlines the way that the American fan magazines of the mid-1950s, in an effort to maintain the status quo, screened their mostly female audience from any political issues, which by the very nature of her race Dandridge epitomised. The result of this invisibility for Dandridge was that the progress of her career was impeded and short-lived.

This chapter uses the 1791 trial of Pedro Dionisio Muñoz de Carballo to analyze the intersection of racism, racialization, and the artistic sphere as well as details of art production in Cuba during the late eighteenth century. Muñoz de Carballo, a free man of color and owner of a painting supply shop in Havana, was accused of selling lethal substances. This case took place during a period of great racial conflict. After the Haitian Revolution, fears of slave revolts increased. Black Cubans dominated the art sphere, and this caused racial anxiety. The case against Muñoz de Carballo was intended to ensure order and to exclude Blacks from Cuba’s art world. Art was marshaled as an effective tool to justify the political economy of slavery built upon white supremacy. Royal authorities used strategies such as the development of an aesthetic of good taste, the establishment of a fine arts academy, and the organization of artists into guilds. These measures ensured a rigid hierarchy that served as a glass ceiling for Blacks and mulatos. Linda Marie Rodriguez not only discusses art and race, but offers a clear picture of the material culture related to art in Cuba around 1800.

Abstract Hoping to portray a family experience more complex and representative than Cosby’s picture-perfect lifestyle, Charles Dutton, executive producer and star of Roe, set out to portray a workingclass black family with all the love and devotion of the Huxtables, minus the wealth. His show revolved around Roe Emerson, an honest and hardworking employee of the Baltimore sanitation department (a “garbage engineer,” as he says), and his wife Eleanor (Ella Joyce), a nurse. While saving for their dream home, the Emersons share a brownstone with Roe’s errant brother ,Joey (Rocky Carroll), and curmudgeonly father, Andrew (Carl Gordon). The ensemble cast was already familiar to some viewers; the actors had earned critical acclaim for their collective performance in August Wilson’s stage hit The Piano Lesson. When Dutton got the call from Fox to do a television show, he packed up his co-stars and brought them with him.

Neutron stars are enigmatic celestial objects born from the cataclysmic aftermath of massive stars' supernova explosions. These extreme remnants, possessing remarkable densities and magnetic fields, provide an exceptional laboratory for studying fundamental physics under conditions unattainable on Earth. In this comprehensive chapter, we delve into the captivating realm of neutron stars, investigating their formation, structure, and properties while uncovering the underlying nuclear physics and equations of state that govern their behavior. The introductory section lays the groundwork by defining neutron stars, recounting their historical discovery, and insistence the importance as key astrophysical entities. The journey commences with neutron star formation, exploring the steps of stellar evolution and supernovae that results the creation of these compact marvels. Various mechanisms for the formation of neutron star, including core-collapse and electron capture supernovae, are elucidated, along with an examination of potential progenitor stars. The heart of this chapter delves into neutron star structure, examining the composition of these enigmatic objects and the crucial role played by nuclear forces. The innermost regions of a star named neutron, the crust and core, are meticulously investigated, shedding light on the exotic matter states found in these extreme environments. The intriguing relationship between neutron star mass and radius, a crucial aspect of their physics, is comprehensively explored. A significant focus of this chapter is dedicated to nuclear equations of state, as they profoundly influence neutron star properties. We provide an introduction to equations of state and delve into the particulars of nuclear matter equations of state. The challenges of modeling dense matter and the constraints imposed by observations on the equations of neutron star are discussed, shedding light on the ongoing quest for a comprehensive understanding of these extreme objects. Furthermore, the chapter delves into the interior structure of neutron stars, with a particular focus on neutron-rich nuclear matter properties. The presence of meson condensates, hyperons, and even matter of quark in these extreme environments is explored, presenting a captivating glimpse into the exotic possibilities of nuclear matter under extreme conditions. Neutron star cooling mechanisms are another crucial aspect addressed in this chapter. We investigate the role of neutrino cooling, Urca processes modification, and direct Urca processes in regulating neutron stars the thermal evolution. Additionally, fascinating phenomena of superfluidity, and also superconductivity in neutron stars are examined, as they contribute to the observed pulsar behavior. Magnetars, a special class of highly magnetized neutron stars, garner significant attention in this chapter. We delve into the generation and evolution of magnetic fields in neutron stars and explore the profound impact of magnetism on their properties, shedding light on the spectacular phenomena exhibited by magnetars. Observations of stars and pulsars provide a wealth of insights, and this chapter explores the emission mechanisms of pulsars, pulsar wind nebulae, and pulsar timing applications. We also discuss the challenges and future prospects of observing neutron stars, providing an outlook on upcoming advancements. Neutron star mergers and their associated gravitational wave signatures are discussed in detail, offering a glimpse into the transformative events that shape the cosmos. The formation of kilo novae and the critical role of neutron star defined as mergers in r-process nucleosynthesis are explained, highlighting the significance of these mergers as cosmic crucibles of elements. The neutron stars masses and their connections to other compact objects, such as neutron star-black hole binaries, are examined, presenting a comprehensive picture of the diverse compact astrophysical entities. Neutron star evolution and end states provide further intrigue, with an investigation into spin-down processes, pulsar recycling, and the existence of quiescent neutron stars and strange stars. Lastly, we confront open questions and explore future directions in neutron star physics, addressing unsolved mysteries, observational advancements, and theoretical prospects. The implications of neutron star research for astrophysics and cosmology are discussed, highlighting the enduring significance of these captivating objects. In conclusion, this chapter serves as a comprehensive and captivating exploration of neutron stars, their formation, properties, and the role of nuclear physics in shaping these extraordinary celestial entities. Through a systematic journey from their inception to open questions and future prospects, this chapter provides a robust understanding of neutron stars, inspiring ongoing research and fascination with these enigmatic cosmic beacons.