A SPITZER MIPS STUDY OF 2.5-2.0 M{sub Sun} STARS IN SCORPIUS-CENTAURUS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Christine H.; Bitner, Martin; Pecaut, Mark

2012-09-10

We have obtained Spitzer Space Telescope Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) 24 {mu}m and 70 {mu}m observations of 215 nearby, Hipparcos B- and A-type common proper-motion single and binary systems in the nearest OB association, Scorpius-Centaurus. Combining our MIPS observations with those of other ScoCen stars in the literature, we estimate 24 {mu}m B+A-type disk fractions of 17/67 (25{sup +6}{sub -5}%), 36/131 (27{sup +4}{sub -4}%), and 23/95 (24{sup +5}{sub -4}%) for Upper Scorpius ({approx}11 Myr), Upper Centaurus Lupus ({approx}15 Myr), and Lower Centaurus Crux ({approx}17 Myr), respectively, somewhat smaller disk fractions than previously obtained for F- and G-type members.more » We confirm previous IRAS excess detections and present new discoveries of 51 protoplanetary and debris disk systems, with fractional infrared luminosities ranging from L{sub IR}/L{sub *} = 10{sup -6} to 10{sup -2} and grain temperatures ranging from T{sub gr} = 40 to 300 K. In addition, we confirm that the 24 {mu}m and 70 {mu}m excesses (or fractional infrared luminosities) around B+A-type stars are smaller than those measured toward F+G-type stars and hypothesize that the observed disk property dependence on stellar mass may be the result of a higher stellar companion fraction around B- and A-type stars at 10-200 AU. Finally, we note that the majority of the ScoCen 24 {mu}m excess sources also possess 12 {mu}m excess, indicating that Earth-like planets may be forming via collisions in the terrestrial planet zone at {approx}10-100 Myr.« less

Identification of young stellar variables with KELT for K2 - II. The Upper Scorpius association

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ansdell, Megan; Oelkers, Ryan J.; Rodriguez, Joseph E.; Gaidos, Eric; Somers, Garrett; Mamajek, Eric; Cargile, Phillip A.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Pepper, Joshua; Stevens, Daniel J.; Beatty, Thomas G.; Siverd, Robert J.; Lund, Michael B.; Kuhn, Rudolf B.; James, David; Gaudi, B. Scott

2018-01-01

High-precision photometry from space-based missions such as K2 and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite enables detailed studies of young star variability. However, because space-based observing campaigns are often short (e.g. 80 d for K2), complementary long-baseline photometric surveys are critical for obtaining a complete understanding of young star variability, which can change on time-scales of minutes to years. We therefore present and analyse light curves of members of the Upper Scorpius association made over 5.5 yr by the ground-based Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT), which complement the high-precision observations of this region taken by K2 during its Campaigns 2 and 15. We show that KELT data accurately identify the periodic signals found with high-precision K2 photometry, demonstrating the power of ground-based surveys in deriving stellar rotation periods of young stars. We also use KELT data to identify sources exhibiting variability that is likely related to circumstellar material and/or stellar activity cycles; these signatures are often unseen in the short-term K2 data, illustrating the importance of long-term monitoring surveys for studying the full range of young star variability. We provide the KELT light curves as electronic tables in an ongoing effort to establish legacy time series data sets for young stellar clusters.

A MAGELLAN MIKE AND SPITZER MIPS STUDY OF 1.5-1.0 M{sub sun} STARS IN SCORPIUS-CENTAURUS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Christine H.; Bitner, Martin A.; Mamajek, Eric E.

2011-09-10

We obtained Spitzer Space Telescope Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) 24 {mu}m and 70 {mu}m observations of 182 nearby, Hipparcos F- and G-type common proper motion single and binary systems in the nearest OB association, Scorpius-Centaurus. We also obtained Magellan/MIKE R {approx} 50,000 visual spectra at 3500-10500 A for 181 candidate ScoCen stars in single and binary systems. Combining our MIPS observations with those of other ScoCen stars in the literature, we estimate 24 {mu}m F+G-type disk fractions of 9/27 (33% {+-} 11%), 21/67 (31% {+-} 7%), and 25/71 (35% {+-} 7%) for Upper Scorpius ({approx}10 Myr), Upper Centaurusmore » Lupus ({approx}15 Myr), and Lower Centaurus Crux ({approx}17 Myr), respectively. We confirm previous IRAS and MIPS excess detections and present new discoveries of 41 protoplanetary and debris disk systems, with fractional infrared luminosities ranging from L{sub IR}/L{sub *} = 10{sup -5} to 10{sup -2} and grain temperatures ranging from T{sub gr} = 40-300 K. We searched for an increase in 24 {mu}m excess at an age of 15-20 Myr, consistent with the onset of debris production predicted by coagulation N-body simulations of outer planetary systems. We found such an increase around 1.5 M{sub sun} stars but discovered a decrease in the 24 {mu}m excess around 1.0 M{sub sun} stars. We additionally discovered that the 24 {mu}m excess around 1.0 M{sub sun} stars is larger than predicted by self-stirred models. Finally, we found a weak anti-correlation between fractional infrared luminosity (L{sub IR}/L{sub *}) and chromospheric activity (R'{sub HK}), that may be the result of differences in stellar properties, such as mass, luminosity, and/or winds.« less

Very Low-mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs in Upper Scorpius Using Gaia DR1: Mass Function, Disks, and Kinematics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, Neil J.; Scholz, Aleks; Jayawardhana, Ray

2017-12-01

Our understanding of the brown dwarf population in star-forming regions is dependent on knowing distances and proper motions and therefore will be improved through the Gaia space mission. In this paper, we select new samples of very low-mass objects (VLMOs) in Upper Scorpius using UKIDSS colors and optimized proper motions calculated using Gaia DR1. The scatter in proper motions from VLMOs in Upper Scorpius is now (for the first time) dominated by the kinematic spread of the region itself, not by the positional uncertainties. With age and mass estimates updated using Gaia parallaxes for early-type stars in the same region, we determine masses for all VLMOs. Our final most complete sample includes 453 VLMOs of which ˜125 are expected to be brown dwarfs. The cleanest sample is comprised of 131 VLMOs, with ˜105 brown dwarfs. We also compile a joint sample from the literature that includes 415 VLMOs, out of which 152 are likely brown dwarfs. The disk fraction among low-mass brown dwarfs (M< 0.05 {M}⊙ ) is substantially higher than in more massive objects, indicating that disks around low-mass brown dwarfs survive longer than in low-mass stars overall. The mass function for 0.01< M< 0.1 {M}⊙ is consistent with the Kroupa Initial Mass Function. We investigate the possibility that some “proper motion outliers” have undergone a dynamical ejection early in their evolution. Our analysis shows that the color-magnitude cuts used when selecting samples introduce strong bias into the population statistics due to varying levels of contamination and completeness.

A FORMATION SCENARIO OF YOUNG STELLAR GROUPS IN THE REGION OF THE SCORPIO CENTAURUS OB ASSOCIATION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ortega, V. G.; Jilinski, E.; De la Reza, R.

2009-04-15

The main objective of this work is to investigate the role played by Lower Centaurus Crux (LCC) and Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL), both subcomponents of the Scorpio Centaurus OB association (Sco-Cen), in the formation of the groups {beta} Pictoris, TW Hydrae, and the {eta} Chamaeleontis cluster. The dynamical evolution of all the stellar groups involved and of the bubbles and shells blown by LCC and UCL are calculated, and followed from the past to the present. This leads to a formation scenario in which (1) the groups {beta} Pictoris, TW Hydrae were formed in the wake of the shells createdmore » by LCC and UCL, (2) the young cluster {eta} Chamaeleontis was born as a consequence of the collision of the shells of LCC and UCL, and (3) the formation of Upper Scorpius (US), the other main subcomponent of the Sco-Cen association, may have been started by the same process that created {eta} Chamaeleontis.« less

Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the first Advanced LIGO observing run with a hidden Markov model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Afrough, M.; Agarwal, B.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allen, G.; Allocca, A.; Almoubayyed, H.; Altin, P. A.; Amato, A.; Ananyeva, A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Antier, S.; Appert, S.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; AultONeal, K.; Avila-Alvarez, A.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Bae, S.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Banagiri, S.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bawaj, M.; Bazzan, M.; Bécsy, B.; Beer, C.; Bejger, M.; Belahcene, I.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Etienne, Z. B.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Billman, C. R.; Birch, J.; Birney, R.; Birnholtz, O.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blackman, J.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, S.; Bock, O.; Bode, N.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, G.; Bohe, A.; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, D. A.; Brown, D. D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Calderón Bustillo, J.; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Canepa, M.; Canizares, P.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, H.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Carney, M. F.; Casanueva Diaz, J.; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglià, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Cerboni Baiardi, L.; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chatterjee, D.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, H.-P.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Chmiel, T.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, A. J. K.; Chua, S.; Chung, A. K. W.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Ciolfi, R.; Cirelli, C. E.; Cirone, A.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Cocchieri, C.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P.-F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L. R.; Constancio, M.; Conti, L.; Cooper, S. J.; Corban, P.; Corbitt, T. R.; Corley, K. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J.-P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Covas, P. B.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Creighton, T. D.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cullen, T. J.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Dasgupta, A.; Da Silva Costa, C. F.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Davis, D.; Daw, E. J.; Day, B.; De, S.; DeBra, D.; Deelman, E.; Degallaix, J.; De Laurentis, M.; Deléglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.; De Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devenson, J.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Díaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Giovanni, M.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Renzo, F.; Doctor, Z.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Dorrington, I.; Douglas, R.; Dovale Álvarez, M.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Duncan, J.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H.-B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Essick, R. C.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Fauchon-Jones, E. J.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Feicht, J.; Fejer, M. M.; Fernandez-Galiana, A.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M.; Fong, H.; Forsyth, P. W. F.; Forsyth, S. S.; Fournier, J.-D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fries, E. M.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H.; Gabel, M.; Gadre, B. U.; Gaebel, S. M.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Ganija, M. R.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gaudio, S.; Gaur, G.; Gayathri, V.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, D.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghonge, S.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.; Glover, L.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gomes, S.; González, G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Gruning, P.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannuksela, O. A.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Haster, C.-J.; Haughian, K.; Healy, J.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Horst, C.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Intini, G.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J.-M.; Isi, M.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jiménez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W. W.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Junker, J.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katolik, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kawabe, K.; Kéfélian, F.; Keitel, D.; Kemball, A. J.; Kennedy, R.; Kent, C.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J. C.; Kim, W.; Kim, W. S.; Kim, Y.-M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kirchhoff, R.; Kissel, J. S.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koch, P.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Krämer, C.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Królak, A.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kumar, S.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Kwang, S.; Lackey, B. D.; Lai, K. H.; Landry, M.; Lang, R. N.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lanza, R. K.; Lartaux-Vollard, A.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, H. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, H. W.; Lee, K.; Lehmann, J.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Liu, J.; Lockerbie, N. A.; London, L. T.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lovelace, G.; Lück, H.; Lumaca, D.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Macfoy, S.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magaña Hernandez, I.; Magaña-Sandoval, F.; Magaña Zertuche, L.; Magee, R. M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Márka, S.; Márka, Z.; Markakis, C.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matas, A.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mayani, R.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McCuller, L.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Mejuto-Villa, E.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A.; Miller, B. B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minazzoli, O.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B. C.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Muniz, E. A. M.; Murray, P. G.; Napier, K.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Neri, M.; Nery, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newport, J. M.; Newton, G.; Ng, K. K. Y.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nichols, D.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Noack, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; Ormiston, R.; Ortega, L. F.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pace, A. E.; Page, J.; Page, M. A.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pang, B.; Pang, P. T. H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perez, C. J.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Porter, E. K.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Pratt, J. W. W.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prix, R.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Pürrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Ramirez, K. E.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Read, J.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Ricker, P. M.; Rieger, S.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, R.; Romel, C. L.; Romie, J. H.; Rosińska, D.; Ross, M. P.; Rowan, S.; Rüdiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.; Rynge, M.; Sachdev, S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sampson, L. M.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Scheuer, J.; Schmidt, E.; Schmidt, J.; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schönbeck, A.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schulte, B. W.; Schutz, B. F.; Schwalbe, S. G.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Seidel, E.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shah, A. A.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shao, L.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, A. D.; Singer, A.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, B.; Smith, J. R.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sonnenberg, J. A.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Spencer, A. P.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stone, R.; Strain, K. A.; Stratta, G.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepańczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tápai, M.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, J. A.; Taylor, R.; Theeg, T.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thorne, K. S.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torrie, C. I.; Töyrä, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifirò, D.; Trinastic, J.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tsang, K. W.; Tse, M.; Tso, R.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ueno, K.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahi, K.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Varma, V.; Vass, S.; Vasúth, M.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Venugopalan, G.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Viets, A. D.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, M.; Walet, R.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, J. Z.; Wang, M.; Wang, Y.-F.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Watchi, J.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L.-W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.; Wessel, E. K.; Weßels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Whittle, C.; Williams, D.; Williams, R. D.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Wofford, J.; Wong, K. W. K.; Worden, J.; Wright, J. L.; Wu, D. S.; Wu, G.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, Hang; Yu, Haocun; Yvert, M.; ZadroŻny, A.; Zanolin, M.; Zelenova, T.; Zendri, J.-P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, T.; Zhang, Y.-H.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zweizig, J.; Suvorova, S.; Moran, W.; Evans, R. J.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration; Virgo Collaboration

2017-06-01

Results are presented from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the brightest low-mass X-ray binary, Scorpius X-1, using data collected during the first Advanced LIGO observing run. The search combines a frequency domain matched filter (Bessel-weighted F -statistic) with a hidden Markov model to track wandering of the neutron star spin frequency. No evidence of gravitational waves is found in the frequency range 60-650 Hz. Frequentist 95% confidence strain upper limits, h095 %=4.0 ×1 0-25, 8.3 ×1 0-25, and 3.0 ×1 0-25 for electromagnetically restricted source orientation, unknown polarization, and circular polarization, respectively, are reported at 106 Hz. They are ≤10 times higher than the theoretical torque-balance limit at 106 Hz.

The optical + infrared L dwarf spectral sequence of young planetary-mass objects in the Upper Scorpius association

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lodieu, N.; Zapatero Osorio, M. R.; Béjar, V. J. S.; Peña Ramírez, K.

2018-01-01

We present the results of photometric and spectroscopic follow-ups of the lowest mass member candidates in the nearest OB association, Upper Scorpius (∼5-10 Myr; 145 ± 17 pc), with the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC) and European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT). We confirm the membership of the large majority (>80 per cent) of candidates originally selected photometrically and astrometrically based on their spectroscopic features, weak equivalent widths of gravity-sensitive doublets and radial velocities. Confirmed members follow a sequence over a wide magnitude range (J = 17.0-19.3 mag) in several colour-magnitude diagrams with optical, near- and mid-infrared photometry and have near-infrared spectral types in the L1-L7 interval with likely masses below 15 Jupiter masses. We find that optical spectral types tend to be earlier than near-infrared spectral types by a few subclasses for spectral types later than M9. We investigate the behaviour of spectral indices, defined in the literature as a function of spectral type and gravity, by comparison with values reported in the literature for young and old dwarfs. We also derive effective temperatures in the 1900-1600 K range from fits of synthetic model-atmosphere spectra to the observed photometry, but we caution that the procedure carries large uncertainties. We determine bolometric corrections for young L dwarfs with ages of ∼5-10 Myr (Upper Sco association) and find them to be similar in the J band but larger by 0.1-0.4 mag in the K band with respect to field L dwarfs. Finally, we discover two faint young L dwarfs, Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) J1607-2146 (L4.5) and VISTA J1611-2215 (L5), that have Hα emission and possible flux excesses at 4.5 μm, pointing to the presence of accretion from a disc on to the central objects of mass below ∼15MJup at an age of 5-10 Myr.

Searches for continuous gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 and XTE J1751-305 in LIGO's sixth science run

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meadors, G. D.; Goetz, E.; Riles, K.; Creighton, T.; Robinet, F.

2017-02-01

Scorpius X-1 (Sco X-1) and x-ray transient XTE J1751-305 are low-mass x-ray binaries (LMXBs) that may emit continuous gravitational waves detectable in the band of ground-based interferometric observatories. Neutron stars in LMXBs could reach a torque-balance steady-state equilibrium in which angular momentum addition from infalling matter from the binary companion is balanced by angular momentum loss, conceivably due to gravitational-wave emission. Torque balance predicts a scale for detectable gravitational-wave strain based on observed x-ray flux. This paper describes a search for Sco X-1 and XTE J1751-305 in LIGO science run 6 data using the TwoSpect algorithm, based on searching for orbital modulations in the frequency domain. While no detections are claimed, upper limits on continuous gravitational-wave emission from Sco X-1 are obtained, spanning gravitational-wave frequencies from 40 to 2040 Hz and projected semimajor axes from 0.90 to 1.98 light-seconds. These upper limits are injection validated, equal any previous set in initial LIGO data, and extend over a broader parameter range. At optimal strain sensitivity, achieved at 165 Hz, the 95% confidence level random-polarization upper limit on dimensionless strain h0 is approximately 1.8 ×10-24. The closest approach to the torque-balance limit, within a factor of 27, is also at 165 Hz. Upper limits are set in particular narrow frequency bands of interest for J1751-305. These are the first upper limits known to date on r -mode emission from this XTE source. The TwoSpect method will be used in upcoming searches of Advanced LIGO and Virgo data.

Upper Limits on Gravitational Waves from Scorpius X-1 from a Model-based Cross-correlation Search in Advanced LIGO Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H.-B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Eisenstein, R. A.; Essick, R. C.; Etienne, Z. B.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Fauchon-Jones, E. J.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Feicht, J.; Fejer, M. M.; Fernandez-Galiana, A.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M.; Fong, H.; Forsyth, P. W. F.; Forsyth, S. S.; Fournier, J.-D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fries, E. M.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H.; Gabel, M.; Gadre, B. U.; Gaebel, S. M.; Gair, J. R.; Galloway, D. K.; Gammaitoni, L.; Ganija, M. R.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gaudio, S.; Gaur, G.; Gayathri, V.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, D.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghonge, S.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.; Glover, L.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gomes, S.; González, G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Gruning, P.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannuksela, O. A.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Haster, C.-J.; Haughian, K.; Healy, J.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Horst, C.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Intini, G.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J.-M.; Isi, M.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jiménez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W. W.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Junker, J.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katolik, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kawabe, K.; Kéfélian, F.; Keitel, D.; Kemball, A. J.; Kennedy, R.; Kent, C.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J. C.; Kim, W.; Kim, W. S.; Kim, Y.-M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kirchhoff, R.; Kissel, J. S.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koch, P.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Krämer, C.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Królak, A.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kumar, S.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Kwang, S.; Lackey, B. D.; Lai, K. H.; Landry, M.; Lang, R. N.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lanza, R. K.; Lartaux-Vollard, A.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, H. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, H. W.; Lee, K.; Lehmann, J.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Liu, J.; Lo, R. K. L.; Lockerbie, N. A.; London, L. T.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lousto, C. O.; Lovelace, G.; Lück, H.; Lumaca, D.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Macfoy, S.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magaña Hernandez, I.; Magaña-Sandoval, F.; Magaña Zertuche, L.; Magee, R. M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Márka, S.; Márka, Z.; Markakis, C.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matas, A.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mayani, R.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McCuller, L.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Mejuto-Villa, E.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A.; Miller, B. B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minazzoli, O.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B. C.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Muniz, E. A. M.; Murray, P. G.; Napier, K.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Neri, M.; Nery, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newport, J. M.; Newton, G.; Ng, K. K. Y.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nichols, D.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Noack, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; Ormiston, R.; Ortega, L. F.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pace, A. E.; Page, J.; Page, M. A.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pang, B.; Pang, P. T. H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perez, C. J.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Porter, E. K.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Pratt, J. W. W.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prix, R.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Pürrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Ramirez, K. E.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Read, J.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Ricker, P. M.; Rieger, S.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, R.; Romel, C. L.; Romie, J. H.; Rosińska, D.; Ross, M. P.; Rowan, S.; Rüdiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.; Rynge, M.; Sachdev, S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sampson, L. M.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Scheuer, J.; Schmidt, E.; Schmidt, J.; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schönbeck, A.; Schönbeck, A.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schulte, B. W.; Schutz, B. F.; Schwalbe, S. G.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Seidel, E.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shah, A. A.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shao, L.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, A. D.; Singer, A.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, B.; Smith, J. R.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sonnenberg, J. A.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Spencer, A. P.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stone, R.; Strain, K. A.; Stratta, G.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepańczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tápai, M.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, J. A.; Taylor, R.; Theeg, T.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thorne, K. S.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torrie, C. I.; Töyrä, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifirò, D.; Trinastic, J.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tsang, K. W.; Tse, M.; Tso, R.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ueno, K.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahi, K.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; Vallisneri, M.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Varma, V.; Vass, S.; Vasúth, M.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Venugopalan, G.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Viets, A. D.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, M.; Walet, R.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, J. Z.; Wang, M.; Wang, Y.-F.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Watchi, J.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L.-W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.; Wessel, E. K.; Wessels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Whittle, C.; Williams, D.; Williams, R. D.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Wofford, J.; Wong, K. W. K.; Worden, J.; Wright, J. L.; Wu, D. S.; Wu, G.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, Hang; Yu, Haocun; Yvert, M.; Zanolin, M.; Zelenova, T.; Zendri, J.-P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, T.; Zhang, Y.-H.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zweizig, J.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration; Virgo Collaboration; Steeghs, D.; Wang, L.

2017-09-01

We present the results of a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass X-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using data from the first Advanced LIGO observing run. The search method uses details of the modeled, parametrized continuous signal to combine coherently data separated by less than a specified coherence time, which can be adjusted to trade off sensitivity against computational cost. A search was conducted over the frequency range 25-2000 {Hz}, spanning the current observationally constrained range of binary orbital parameters. No significant detection candidates were found, and frequency-dependent upper limits were set using a combination of sensitivity estimates and simulated signal injections. The most stringent upper limit was set at 175 {Hz}, with comparable limits set across the most sensitive frequency range from 100 to 200 {Hz}. At this frequency, the 95% upper limit on the signal amplitude h 0 is 2.3× {10}-25 marginalized over the unknown inclination angle of the neutron star’s spin, and 8.0× {10}-26 assuming the best orientation (which results in circularly polarized gravitational waves). These limits are a factor of 3-4 stronger than those set by other analyses of the same data, and a factor of ˜7 stronger than the best upper limits set using data from Initial LIGO science runs. In the vicinity of 100 {Hz}, the limits are a factor of between 1.2 and 3.5 above the predictions of the torque balance model, depending on the inclination angle; if the most likely inclination angle of 44° is assumed, they are within a factor of 1.7.

New Low-mass Accretors in the Scorpius-Centaurus OB Association

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, Simon J.; Lawson, Warrick A.; Bento, Joao

2016-01-01

We describe the serendipitous discovery of two new lithium-rich M5 members of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB Association (Sco-Cen). Both stars exhibit large 12 and 22 μm excesses and strong, variable Hα emission which we attribute to accretion from circumstellar discs. Such stars are thought to be incredibly rare at the ~16 Myr median age of much of Sco-Cen. The serendipitous discovery of two accreting stars hosting large quantities of circumstellar material may be indicative of a sizeable age spread in Sco-Cen, or further evidence that disc dispersal and planet formation time-scales are longer around lower-mass stars.

Search for Wide Planetary-Mass Companions in Young Star-Forming Regions with UKIDSS and Pan-STARRS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aller, Kimberly M.; Kraus, A. L.; Liu, M. C.; Bowler, B. P.

2013-01-01

Over the past decade, planetary-mass (<15 MJup) companions have been discovered in very wide orbits (>100 AU) around young stars. It is unclear whether these objects formed like planets or like stars. If these are planets, then modifications to core accretion or disk instability models are needed to allow formation at such wide orbits, or planet scattering must be an important mechanism. On the other hand, if these objects formed like stars, we need to understand the frequency of these extremely low mass ratio binary companions which challenge brown dwarf formation models. Regardless of their origins, these wide companions are easier to observe than close-in planets and can be used as benchmarks to understand the properties of young planets. We have combined optical and NIR photometry from UKIDSS and Pan-STARRS-1 to search the young star-forming region of Upper Scorpius and Taurus for new planetary-mass objects, going ≈3 mag deeper than previous work with 2MASS. We identified several candidates with very wide separations (≈400-4000 AU) from known members using a combination of color selection and spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting to templates of known low-mass stars and brown dwarfs. Furthermore, we have obtained followup NIR spectra of several Upper Scorpius candidates to spectroscopically identify three new wide very low-mass companions (≈15-25 MJup spectral type of M8-L0).

Tuning into Scorpius X-1: adapting a continuous gravitational-wave search for a known binary system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meadors, Grant David; Goetz, Evan; Riles, Keith

2016-05-01

We describe how the TwoSpect data analysis method for continuous gravitational waves (GWs) has been tuned for directed sources such as the low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB), Scorpius X-1 (Sco X-1). A comparison of five search algorithms generated simulations of the orbital and GW parameters of Sco X-1. Whereas that comparison focused on relative performance, here the simulations help quantify the sensitivity enhancement and parameter estimation abilities of this directed method, derived from an all-sky search for unknown sources, using doubly Fourier-transformed data. Sensitivity is shown to be enhanced when the source sky location and period are known, because we can run a fully templated search, bypassing the all-sky hierarchical stage using an incoherent harmonic sum. The GW strain and frequency, as well as the projected semi-major axis of the binary system, are recovered and uncertainty estimated, for simulated signals that are detected. Upper limits for GW strain are set for undetected signals. Applications to future GW observatory data are discussed. Robust against spin-wandering and computationally tractable despite an unknown frequency, this directed search is an important new tool for finding gravitational signals from LMXBs.

The Zodiacal Exoplanets in Time (ZEIT) Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mann, Andrew; Gaidos, Eric; Newton, Elisabeth R.; Rizzuto, Aaron C.; Vanderburg, Andrew; Mace, Gregory N.; Kraus, Adam L.

2017-01-01

Planets and their host stars evolve with time, and the first few hundred million years are thought to be the most formative. However, the majority of known exoplanets orbit stars older than the timescales of interest (>1 Gyr). We have launched the Zodiacal Exoplanets in Time (ZEIT) survey with the goal of identifying and characterizing young (<1 Gyr) transiting planets. To this end, we have utilized high-precision photometry of nearby young clusters and stellar associations taken as part of the K2 mission. Thus far we have discovered transiting planets in the Hyades and Praesepe clusters (˜800 Myr), and the Upper Scorpius OB association (˜11 Myr), but interestingly none in the Pleiades (˜125 Myr). These discoveries can be used to set limits on the migration timescale, estimate atmosphere loss around young planets, and provide independent tests of pre-main sequence stellar models. Here I overview some key science results from our survey and briefly discuss our plans to identify more young planetary systems.

Rotation in USco and rho Oph with K2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rebull, Luisa; Stauffer, John; K2 Clusters Team

2018-01-01

K2 observed Upper Scorpius and rho Oph as part of their Campaign 2 in 2014. At ~8 and ~1 Myr respectively, the stars in Upper Sco and rho Oph exhibit greater diversity of light curve shapes than are found in older clusters observed with K2 such as Pleiades or Praesepe. Nonetheless, we are able to derive rotation periods for 85% (971/1136) of the USco members and 80% (71/88) of the rho Oph members. About 25% of the periodic stars have evidence for multiple periods. These light curves sample smaller amplitudes to lower masses and with a far better cadence, than has even been probed before. We can compare USco with similar stars in Praesepe (~700 Myr) and the Pleiades (~125 Myr), all with K2 light curves.

Jabbah and Associates

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-11-25

This view from NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer takes in an area of the sky in the constellation of Scorpius surrounding Jabbah Arabic name means the forehead of the scorpion which is larger than a grid of eight by eight full moons.

HD 101088, AN ACCRETING 14 AU BINARY IN LOWER CENTAURUS CRUX WITH VERY LITTLE CIRCUMSTELLAR DUST

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bitner, Martin A.; Chen, Christine H.; Muzerolle, James

2010-05-10

We present high-resolution (R = 55, 000) optical spectra obtained with MIKE on the 6.5 m Magellan Clay Telescope as well as Spitzer MIPS photometry and Infrared Spectrometer low-resolution (R {approx} 60) spectroscopy of the close (14 AU separation) binary, HD 101088, a member of the {approx}12 Myr old southern region of the Lower Centaurus Crux subgroup of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association. We find that the primary and/or secondary is accreting from a tenuous circumprimary and/or circumsecondary disk despite the apparent lack of a massive circumbinary disk. We estimate a lower limit to the accretion rate of M-dot > 1x10{supmore » -9} M{sub sun} yr{sup -1}, which our multiple observation epochs show varies over a timescale of months. The upper limit on the 70 {mu}m flux allows us to place an upper limit on the mass of dust grains smaller than several microns present in a circumbinary disk of 0.16 M{sub moon}. We conclude that the classification of disks into either protoplanetary or debris disks based on fractional infrared luminosity alone may be misleading.« less

Skyscape of an Amazonian Diaspora: Arawak Astronomy in Historical Comparative Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jara, Fabiola

The title of this article "Arawak Astronomy" suggests that the research matter concerns the astronomy of an already well-defined ethnographic entity. This however does not do justice to the complexities of Arawak (pre)history. This contribution aims to discuss and connect the available historical and ethnographic data on Arawak astronomies as gathered by the author (Jara 2000), with the most recent research on the archeology and comparative linguistics of the Arawak diaspora. The article argues that Arawak astronomy has to be related to the cultural and sociopolitical continuities and discontinuities of the Arawak diaspora throughout the lowlands of tropical South America. This article recognizes the need to consider Arawak astronomy has an object to be discovered and explained within its local and regional contexts. Notwithstanding these remarks, based on a sustained examination of ethnohistorical and ethnographic sources, this article proposes that Arawak astronomy can be characterized by at least four elements: firstly, a horizon system of observation which combines the observation of the solar solstices and equinoxes with the near heliacal and near cosmic rising or setting of at least seven star groups - the Pleiades, the Hyades, the upper stars of the constellation of Scorpius (including α Sco), Corvus, the Belt of Orion, several stars near Sirius, and the Milky Way. Secondly, the association of the rising and setting of these star groups with the seasonal cycle, mainly with the start and/or of the end of rainy and dry seasons. Thirdly, the widespread association of the stars of the year (most commonly the Pleiades but sometimes Orion or the head of Scorpius) with the beginning of the agricultural cycle and consequently with the end of the heavy rains announcing the time to plant the new fields. The last and fourth commonality are the inscriptions or markings of the origin of the stars in the local landscape, lakes, mountains, and other salient landscape features.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: VLM stars and BDs in Upper Sco using Gaia DR1 (Cook+, 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, N. J.; Scholz, A.; Jayawardhana, R.

2018-04-01

We used literature samples (Dawson et al. (2011MNRAS.418.1231D, Cat. J/MNRAS/418/1231), Lodieu et al. (2011MNRAS.418.2604L), Dawson et al. (2013MNRAS.429..903D, Cat. J/MNRAS/429/903), Lodieu (2013MNRAS.431.3222L, Cat. J/MNRAS/431/3222), Lodieu (2013MNRAS.435.2474L, Cat. J/MNRAS/435/2474) and Dawson et al. (2014MNRAS.442.1586D)) and UKIDSS photometric data (Lawrence et al. (2007MNRAS.379.1599L, Cat. II/314) along with new proper motion data (using data from Gaia DR1 i.e. Altmann et al. (2017A&A...600L...4A, Cat. I/339), Tian et al. (2017ApJS..232....4T)) to construct catalogues of objects in Upper Scorpius. (8 data files).

Zodiacal Exoplanets in Time (ZEIT). V. A Uniform Search for Transiting Planets in Young Clusters Observed by K2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rizzuto, Aaron C.; Mann, Andrew W.; Vanderburg, Andrew; Kraus, Adam L.; Covey, Kevin R.

2017-12-01

Detection of transiting exoplanets around young stars is more difficult than for older systems owing to increased stellar variability. Nine young open cluster planets have been found in the K2 data, but no single analysis pipeline identified all planets. We have developed a transit search pipeline for young stars that uses a transit-shaped notch and quadratic continuum in a 12 or 24 hr window to fit both the stellar variability and the presence of a transit. In addition, for the most rapid rotators ({P}{rot}< 2 days) we model the variability using a linear combination of observed rotations of each star. To maximally exploit our new pipeline, we update the membership for four stellar populations observed by K2 (Upper Scorpius, Pleiades, Hyades, Praesepe) and conduct a uniform search of the members. We identify all known transiting exoplanets in the clusters, 17 eclipsing binaries, one transiting planet candidate orbiting a potential Pleiades member, and three orbiting unlikely members of the young clusters. Limited injection recovery testing on the known planet hosts indicates that for the older Praesepe systems we are sensitive to additional exoplanets as small as 1-2 R ⊕, and for the larger Upper Scorpius planet host (K2-33) our pipeline is sensitive to ˜4 R ⊕ transiting planets. The lack of detected multiple systems in the young clusters is consistent with the expected frequency from the original Kepler sample, within our detection limits. With a robust pipeline that detects all known planets in the young clusters, occurrence rate testing at young ages is now possible.

High-resolution soft X-ray spectra of Scorpius X-1 - The structure of circumsource accreting material

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kahn, S. M.; Seward, F. D.; Chlebowski, T.

1984-01-01

Four observations of Scorpius X-1 with the Objective Grating Spectrometer of the Einstein Observatory have provided high-resolution spectra (lambda/Delta lambda = approximately 20-50) in the wavelength range 7-46 A. The spectra reveal the presence of absorption structure due to oxygen, nitrogen, and iron, and variable emission structure associated with ionized iron and nitrogen. The strengths of these features suggest that the N/O abundance ratio in the absorbing and line emitting gas is anomalously high, which might indicate that these spectral components are associated with processed material, probably accreting matter transferred from the surface of an evolved companion. Constraints on the inclination of the system, however, imply that this cool, dense, accreting material must be well out of the plane of the binary system. Possible models for the origin and nature of this circumsource medium are discussed. An extensive discussion of the calibration of the Objective Grating Spectrometer and of the analysis of spectra acquired by that instrument is also provided.

Astronomers Trace Microquasar's Path Back in Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2003-01-01

Astronomers have traced the orbit through our Milky Way Galaxy of a voracious neutron star and a companion star it is cannibalizing, and conclude that the pair joined more than 30 million years ago and probably were catapulted out of a cluster of stars far from the Galaxy's center. Path of Microquasar and Sun Path of Microquasar (red) and Sun (yellow) through the Milky Way Galaxy for the past 230 million years. Animations: GIF Version MPEG Version CREDIT: Mirabel & Rodrigues, NRAO/AUI/NSF The pair of stars, called Scorpius X-1, form a "microquasar," in which material sucked from the "normal" star forms a rapidly-rotating disk around the superdense neutron star. The disk becomes so hot it emits X-rays, and also spits out "jets" of subatomic particles at nearly the speed of light. Using precise positional data from the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and from optical telescopes, Felix Mirabel, an astrophysicist at the Institute for Astronomy and Space Physics of Argentina and French Atomic Energy Commission, and Irapuan Rodrigues, also of the French Atomic Energy Commission, calculated that Scorpius X-1 is not orbiting the Milky Way's center in step with most other stars, but instead follows an eccentric path far above and below the Galaxy's plane. Scorpius X-1, discovered with a rocket-borne X-ray telescope in 1962, is about 9,000 light-years from Earth. It is the brightest continuous source of X-rays beyond the Solar System. The 1962 discovery and associated work earned a share of the 2002 Nobel Prize in physics for Riccardo Giacconi. Mirabel and Rodrigues used a number of published observations to calculate the path of Scorpius X-1 over the past few million years. "This is the most accurate determination we have made of the path of an X-ray binary," said Mirabel. By tracing the object's path backward in time, the scientists were able to conclude that the neutron star and its companion have been traveling together for more than 30 million years. They also speculated on the birthplace of Scorpius X-1. "The neutron star, which is the remnant left over from the supernova explosion of an even more massive star, either came from the Milky Way's disk, or from a globular cluster at a considerable distance from the disk," said Rodrigues. Globular clusters are clumps of millions of stars in the outskirts of the Galaxy. If it came from the Galaxy's disk, the scientists say, it would have had to receive a powerful one-sided "kick" from the supernova explosion to get into its present eccentric orbit. While this is possible, they conclude that a more likely scenario is that the neutron star came from a globular cluster. "Probably, this neutron star picked up its companion and was thrown out of its globular cluster by a close encounter with other stars at the cluster's core," Mirabel said. The scientists published their results in the January 30 issue of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. The same pair of researchers traced a similar path of a black hole and its companion star in 2001. Also that year, other astronomers produced a "movie" showing motions in the jet of material ejected from the disk around Scorpius X-1's neutron star. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

Large-Scale CO Maps of the Lupus Molecular Cloud Complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tothill, N. F. H.; Löhr, A.; Parshley, S. C.; Stark, A. A.; Lane, A. P.; Harnett, J. I.; Wright, G. A.; Walker, C. K.; Bourke, T. L.; Myers, P. C.

2009-11-01

Fully sampled degree-scale maps of the 13CO 2-1 and CO 4-3 transitions toward three members of the Lupus Molecular Cloud Complex—Lupus I, III, and IV—trace the column density and temperature of the molecular gas. Comparison with IR extinction maps from the c2d project requires most of the gas to have a temperature of 8-10 K. Estimates of the cloud mass from 13CO emission are roughly consistent with most previous estimates, while the line widths are higher, around 2 km s-1. CO 4-3 emission is found throughout Lupus I, indicating widespread dense gas, and toward Lupus III and IV. Enhanced line widths at the NW end and along the edge of the B 228 ridge in Lupus I, and a coherent velocity gradient across the ridge, are consistent with interaction between the molecular cloud and an expanding H I shell from the Upper-Scorpius subgroup of the Sco-Cen OB Association. Lupus III is dominated by the effects of two HAe/Be stars, and shows no sign of external influence. Slightly warmer gas around the core of Lupus IV and a low line width suggest heating by the Upper-Centaurus-Lupus subgroup of Sco-Cen, without the effects of an H I shell.

LITHIUM IN THE UPPER CENTAURUS LUPUS AND LOWER CENTAURUS CRUX SUBGROUPS OF SCORPIUS-CENTAURUS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bubar, Eric J.; Schaeuble, Marc; King, Jeremy R.

2011-12-15

We utilize spectroscopically derived model atmosphere parameters and the Li I {lambda}6104 subordinate line and the {lambda}6708 doublet to derive lithium abundances for 12 members of the Upper Centaurus Lupus and Lower Centaurus Crux subgroups of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB Association. The results indicate any intrinsic Li scatter in our 0.9-1.4 M{sub Sun} stars is limited to {approx}0.15 dex, consistent with the lack of dispersion in {>=}1.0 M{sub Sun} stars in the 100 Myr Pleiades and 30-50 Myr IC 2391 and 2602 clusters. Both ab initio uncertainty estimates and the derived abundances themselves indicate that the {lambda}6104 line yields abundances withmore » equivalent or less scatter than is found from the {lambda}6708 doublet as a result of lower uncertainties for the subordinate feature, a result of low sensitivity to broadening in the subordinate feature. Because non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) corrections are less susceptible to changes in surface gravity and/or metallicity for the 6104 A line, the subordinate Li feature is preferred for deriving lithium abundances in young Li-rich stellar association stars with T{sub eff} {>=} 5200 K. At these temperatures, we find no difference between the Li abundances derived from the two Li I lines. For cooler stars, having temperatures at which main-sequence dwarfs show abundance patterns indicating overexcitation and overionization, the {lambda}6104-based Li abundances are {approx}0.4 dex lower than those derived from the {lambda}6708 doublet. The trends of the abundances from each feature with T{sub eff} suggest that this difference is due to (near)UV photoionization, which in NLTE preferentially ionizes Li atoms in the subordinate 2p state relative to the 2s resonance line state due to opacity effects. Consequently, this overionization of Li in the 2p state, apparently not adequately accounted for in NLTE corrections, weakens the {lambda}6104 feature in cooler stars. Accordingly, the {lambda}6708-based abundances may give more reliable estimates of the mean Li abundance in cool young stars. Our mean Li abundance, log N(Li) =3.50 {+-} 0.07 is {approx}0.2 dex larger than the meteoritic value. While stellar models suggest that Li depletion of at least 0.4 dex, and possibly much larger, should have occurred in our lowest mass star(s), our Li abundances show no decline with decreasing mass indicative of such depletion.« less

A second glucagon in the pancreatic islets of the daddy sculpin Cottus scorpius.

PubMed

Cutfield, S M; Cutfield, J F

1993-09-01

The peptide hormone glucagon has been isolated from the islet tissue (Brockmann bodies) of the teleost Cottus scorpius (daddy sculpin) and sequenced. The sequence is HSEGTSNDYSKYLEDRKAQDFVQWLMNN differing at four positions from the glucagon found earlier in the same species by Conlon and coworkers (1987b, Eur. J. Biochem, 164, 117-122). Thus sculpin, in common with anglerfish, possesses two distinct glucagons. Comparative sequence data are presented as a phylogenetic tree.

Scorpius

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murdin, P.

2000-11-01

(the Scorpion; abbrev. Sco., gen. Scorpii; area 497 sq. deg.) A southern zodiacal constellation which lies between Ophiuchus and Ara, and culminates at midnight in early June. Its origin dates back to Sumerian times, when it was called Girtab, `the stinger', but today it is associated with the scorpion that, in Greek mythology, killed Orion the hunter—and the two constellations lie on opposite sid...

Sensitive survey for 13CO, CN, H2CO, and SO in the disks of T Tauri and Herbig Ae stars. II. Stars in ρ Ophiuchi and upper Scorpius

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reboussin, L.; Guilloteau, S.; Simon, M.; Grosso, N.; Wakelam, V.; Di Folco, E.; Dutrey, A.; Piétu, V.

2015-06-01

Aims: We attempt to determine the molecular composition of disks around young low-mass stars in the ρ Oph region and to compare our results with a similar study performed in the Taurus-Auriga region. Methods: We used the IRAM 30 m telescope to perform a sensitive search for CN N = 2-1 in 29 T Tauri stars located in the ρ Oph and upper Scorpius regions. 13CO J = 2-1 is observed simultaneously to provide an indication of the level of confusion with the surrounding molecular cloud. The bandpass also contains two transitions of ortho-H2CO, one of SO, and the C17O J = 2-1 line, which provides complementary information on the nature of the emission. Results: Contamination by molecular cloud in 13CO and even C17O is ubiquitous. The CN detection rate appears to be lower than for the Taurus region, with only four sources being detected (three are attributable to disks). H2CO emission is found more frequently, but appears in general to be due to the surrounding cloud. The weaker emission than in Taurus may suggest that the average disk size in the ρ Oph region is smaller than in the Taurus cloud. Chemical modeling shows that the somewhat higher expected disk temperatures in ρ Oph play a direct role in decreasing the CN abundance. Warmer dust temperatures contribute to convert CN into less volatile forms. Conclusions: In such a young region, CN is no longer a simple, sensitive tracer of disks, and observations with other tracers and at high enough resolution with ALMA are required to probe the gas disk population. Based on observations carried out with the IRAM 30-m telescope. IRAM is supported by INSU/CNRS (France), MPG (Germany) and IGN (Spain).Appendix A is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

Directed searches for continuous gravitational waves from spinning neutron stars in binary systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meadors, Grant David

2014-09-01

Gravitational wave detectors such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) seek to observe ripples in space predicted by General Relativity. Black holes, neutron stars, supernovae, the Big Bang and other sources can radiate gravitational waves. Original contributions to the LIGO effort are presented in this thesis: feedforward filtering, directed binary neutron star searches for continuous waves, and scientific outreach and education, as well as advances in quantum optical squeezing. Feedforward filtering removes extraneous noise from servo-controlled instruments. Filtering of the last science run, S6, improves LIGO's astrophysical range (+4.14% H1, +3.60% L1: +12% volume) after subtracting noise from auxiliary length control channels. This thesis shows how filtering enhances the scientific sensitivity of LIGO's data set during and after S6. Techniques for non-stationarity and verifying calibration and integrity may apply to Advanced LIGO. Squeezing is planned for future interferometers to exceed the standard quantum limit on noise from electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations; this thesis discusses the integration of a prototype squeezer at LIGO Hanford Observatory and impact on astrophysical sensitivity. Continuous gravitational waves may be emitted by neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binary systems such as Scorpius X-1. The TwoSpect directed binary search is designed to detect these waves. TwoSpect is the most sensitive of 4 methods in simulated data, projecting an upper limit of 4.23e-25 in strain, given a year-long data set at an Advanced LIGO design sensitivity of 4e-24 Hz. (-1/2). TwoSpect is also used on real S6 data to set 95% confidence upper limits (40 Hz to 2040 Hz) on strain from Scorpius X-1. A millisecond pulsar, X-ray transient J1751-305, is similarly considered. Search enhancements for Advanced LIGO are proposed. Advanced LIGO and fellow interferometers should detect gravitational waves in the coming decade. Methods in these thesis will benefit both the instrumental and analytical sides of observation.

SCORPIUS, A New Generation of Responsive, Low Cost Expendable Launch Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conger, R. E.; Chakroborty, S. P.; Wertz, J. R.

2002-01-01

The Scorpius vehicle family extends from one and two stage sub-orbital vehicles for target and science applications to small, medium and heavy lift orbital vehicles. These new liquid fueled vehicles have LEO and GTO capabilities. Microcosm and the Scorpius Space Launch Company (SSLC) are well into the development of this all-new generation of expendable launch vehicles to support commercial and government missions. This paper presents the projected performance of the family of vehicles, status of the development program and projected launch service prices. The paper will discuss the new low cost ablative engines and low cost pressure-fed LOX/Jet-A propulsion systems. Schedules, payload volumes, dispensers, attach fittings, and planned dual manifest capabilities will be presented. The unique configuration of the wide base first stage allows fairings that may extend beyond the current 4-meters. The Scorpius family is designed to facilitate encapsulated payloads and launch-on-demand. The implications of these new operational procedures will be addressed, including the techniques that will be used to drive down the cost of access to space while improving reliability. The Scorpius family of low cost vehicles addresses the full range of payloads from 700 lbs. in the Sprite Mini-Lift to over 50,000 lbs. to LEO in the Heavy-Lift, and over 18,000 lbs. to GTO. Two sub-orbital vehicles have been developed and successfully launched, with the latest vehicle (SR-XM) launched in March of 2001 from White Sands Missile Range. Development of the family of vehicles commenced in 1993 under contracts with the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicle Directorate after a number of years of independent studies and system engineering. The Sprite Mini-Lift Small Expendable Launch Vehicle (SELV) that utilizes the SR-XM technologies is planned for an initial launch in mid 2005 with larger, scaled-up vehicles to follow.

LARGE-SCALE CO MAPS OF THE LUPUS MOLECULAR CLOUD COMPLEX

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tothill, N. F. H.; Loehr, A.; Stark, A. A.

2009-11-01

Fully sampled degree-scale maps of the {sup 13}CO 2-1 and CO 4-3 transitions toward three members of the Lupus Molecular Cloud Complex-Lupus I, III, and IV-trace the column density and temperature of the molecular gas. Comparison with IR extinction maps from the c2d project requires most of the gas to have a temperature of 8-10 K. Estimates of the cloud mass from {sup 13}CO emission are roughly consistent with most previous estimates, while the line widths are higher, around 2 km s{sup -1}. CO 4-3 emission is found throughout Lupus I, indicating widespread dense gas, and toward Lupus III andmore » IV. Enhanced line widths at the NW end and along the edge of the B 228 ridge in Lupus I, and a coherent velocity gradient across the ridge, are consistent with interaction between the molecular cloud and an expanding H I shell from the Upper-Scorpius subgroup of the Sco-Cen OB Association. Lupus III is dominated by the effects of two HAe/Be stars, and shows no sign of external influence. Slightly warmer gas around the core of Lupus IV and a low line width suggest heating by the Upper-Centaurus-Lupus subgroup of Sco-Cen, without the effects of an H I shell.« less

VizieR Online Data Catalog: The Sco-Cen Rotation Catalogue - SCRC (Mellon+ 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mellon, S. N.; Mamajek, E. E.; Oberst, T. E.; Pecaut, M. J.

2017-09-01

We report the results of a study of archival SuperWASP light curves for stars in Scorpius-Centaurus (Sco-Cen), the nearest OB association. We use SuperWASP time-series photometry to extract rotation periods for candidate members of the Sco-Cen complex. Our final sample contains 157 well-characterized pre-MS stars. (4 data files).

Young Binaries and Early Stellar Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandner, Wolfgang

1996-07-01

Most main-sequence stars are members of binary or multiple systems. The same is true for pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars, as recent surveys have shown. Therefore studying star formation means to a large extent studying the formation of binary systems. Similarly, studying early stellar evolution primarily involves PMS binary systems. In this thesis I have studied the binary frequency among ROSAT selected T Tauri stars in the Chamaeleon T association and the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association, and the evolutionary status of Hα-selected PMS binaries in the T associations of Chamaeleon, Lupus, and ρ Ophiuchi. The direct imaging and spectroscopic observations in the optical have been carried out under subarcsec seeing conditions at the ESO New Technology Telescope (NTT) at La Silla. Furthermore, high-spatial resolution images of selected PMS stars in the near infrared were obtained with the ESO adaptive optics system COME-ON+/ADONIS. Among 195 T Tauri stars observed using direct imaging 31 binaries could be identified, 12 of them with subarcsec separation. Based on statistical arguments alone I conclude that almost all of them are indeed physical (i.e. gravitationally bound) binary or multiple systems. Using astrometric measurements of some binaries I showed that the components of these binaries are common proper motion pairs, very likely in a gravitationally bound orbit around each other. The overall binary frequency among T Tauri stars with a range of separations between 120 and 1800 AU is in agreement with the binary frequency observed among main-sequence stars in the solar neighbourhood. However, within individual regions the spatial distribution of binaries is non-uniform. In particular, in Upper Scorpius, weak-line T Tauri stars in the vicinity of early type stars seem to be almost devoid of multiple systems, whereas in another area in Upper Scorpius half of all weak-line T Tauri stars have a companion in a range of separation between 0.''7 and 3.''0. For a sample of 14 spatially resolved PMS binaries (separations 0.''6 to 1.prime'7) located in the above mentioned T associations both photometric and spectroscopic information has been analyzed. All binaries (originally unresolved) were identified as PMS stars based on their strong Hα emission and their association with dark clouds. Using the spectral A index, which measures the strength of the CaH band at 697.5nm relative to the nearby continuum as a luminosity class indicator, I showed that the classical T Tauri stars in the sample tend to be close to luminosity class V. Eight out of the 14 pairs could be placed on an H--R diagram. When comparing with theoretical PMS evolutionary tracks the individual components of all pairs appear to be coeval within the observational errors. This result is similar to Hartigan et al. (1994) who found two thirds of the wider pairs with separations from 400 AU to 6000 AU to be coeval. However, unlike Hartigan et al.'s finding for the wider pairs, I find no non-coeval pairs. One of the presumed binaries in our sample (ESO Hα 281) turned out to be a likely chance projection with the ``primary'' showing neither Hα emission nor Li absorption. Finally, using adaptive optics at the ESO 3.6m telescope, diffraction-limited JHK images of the region around the Herbig AeBe star NX Pup were obtained. The close companion (sep. 0.''128) to NX Pup -- originally discovered by HST -- was clearly resolved and its JHK magnitudes were determined. A third object at a separation of 7.''0 from NX Pup was identified as a classical T Tauri star so that NX Pup may in fact form a hierarchical triple system. I discuss the evolutionary status of these stars and derive estimates for their spectral types, luminosities, masses, and ages. My conclusions are that binarity is established very early in stellar evolution, that the orbital parameters of wide binaries (a >= 120AU) remain virtually unchanged during their PMS evolution, and that the components of the wide binaries were formed at the same time --- perhaps either through collisional fragmentation or fragmentation of rotating filaments. (Copies of the thesis (written in German) and related pre-/reprints are available from the author upon request.)

A Transient Transit Signature Associated with the Young Star RIK-210

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

David, Trevor J.; Hillenbrand, Lynne A.; Howard, Andrew W.

We find transient transit-like dimming events within the K2 time series photometry of the young star RIK-210 in the Upper Scorpius OB association. These dimming events are variable in depth, duration, and morphology. High spatial resolution imaging revealed that the star is single and radial velocity monitoring indicated that the dimming events cannot be due to an eclipsing stellar or brown dwarf companion. Archival and follow-up photometry suggest the dimming events are transient in nature. The variable morphology of the dimming events suggests they are not due to a single spherical body. The ingress of each dimming event is alwaysmore » shallower than egress, as one would expect for an orbiting body with a leading tail. The dimming events are periodic and synchronous with the stellar rotation. However, we argue it is unlikely the dimming events could be attributed to anything on the stellar surface based on the observed depths and durations. Variable obscuration by a protoplanetary disk is unlikely on the basis that the star is not actively accreting and lacks the infrared excess associated with an inner disk. Rather, we explore the possibilities that the dimming events are due to magnetospheric clouds, a transiting protoplanet surrounded by circumplanetary dust and debris, eccentric orbiting bodies undergoing periodic tidal disruption, or an extended field of dust or debris near the corotation radius.« less

First all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from unknown sources in binary systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aasi, J.; Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T.; Abernathy, M. R.; Accadia, T.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Aggarwal, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Alemic, A.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Amariutei, D.; Andersen, M.; Anderson, R.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C.; Areeda, J.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Austin, L.; Aylott, B. E.; Babak, S.; Baker, P. T.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barbet, M.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barton, M. A.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Bauchrowitz, J.; Bauer, Th. S.; Behnke, B.; Bejger, M.; Beker, M. G.; Belczynski, C.; Bell, A. S.; Bell, C.; Bergmann, G.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Beyersdorf, P. T.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, J.; Biscans, S.; Bitossi, M.; Bizouard, M. A.; Black, E.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blackburn, L.; Blair, D.; Bloemen, S.; Blom, M.; Bock, O.; Bodiya, T. P.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, G.; Bogan, C.; Bond, C.; Bondu, F.; Bonelli, L.; Bonnand, R.; Bork, R.; Born, M.; Boschi, V.; Bose, Sukanta; Bosi, L.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Bridges, D. O.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, D. A.; Brown, D. D.; Brückner, F.; Buchman, S.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Burman, R.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Calderón Bustillo, J.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Campsie, P.; Cannon, K. C.; Canuel, B.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Carbognani, F.; Carbone, L.; Caride, S.; Castiglia, A.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglià, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Celerier, C.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C.; Cesarini, E.; Chakraborty, R.; Chalermsongsak, T.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chao, S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chen, X.; Chen, Y.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Chow, J.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, S. S. Y.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P.-F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C.; Colombini, M.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M.; Conte, A.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cordier, M.; Cornish, N.; Corpuz, A.; Corsi, A.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S.; Coulon, J.-P.; Countryman, S.; Couvares, P.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Creighton, T. D.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, L.; Cuoco, E.; Dahl, K.; Dal Canton, T.; Damjanic, M.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Dattilo, V.; Daveloza, H.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; Dayanga, T.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; Deléglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dereli, H.; Dergachev, V.; De Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Dhurandhar, S.; Díaz, M.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Donath, A.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Dossa, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Dwyer, S.; Eberle, T.; Edo, T.; Edwards, M.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Endrőczi, G.; Essick, R.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fairhurst, S.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Favata, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Feldbaum, D.; Feroz, F.; Ferrante, I.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Finn, L. S.; Fiori, I.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fournier, J.-D.; Franco, S.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frede, M.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Fricke, T. T.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gair, J.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S.; Garufi, F.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, C.; Gleason, J.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; González, G.; Gordon, N.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S.; Goßler, S.; Gouaty, R.; Gräf, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.; Greenhalgh, R. J. S.; Gretarsson, A. M.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grover, K.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guido, C.; Gushwa, K.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hammer, D.; Hammond, G.; Hanke, M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hanson, J.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Harstad, E. D.; Hart, M.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C.-J.; Haughian, K.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hewitson, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hodge, K. A.; Holt, K.; Hooper, S.; Hopkins, P.; Hosken, D. J.; Hough, J.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y.; Huerta, E.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh, M.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isogai, T.; Ivanov, A.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacobson, M.; James, E.; Jang, H.; Jaranowski, P.; Ji, Y.; Jiménez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W. W.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; K, Haris; Kalmus, P.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Karlen, J.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, H.; Kawabe, K.; Kawazoe, F.; Kéfélian, F.; Keiser, G. M.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Khalaidovski, A.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kim, C.; Kim, K.; Kim, N.; Kim, N. G.; Kim, Y.-M.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kinzel, D. L.; Kissel, J. S.; Klimenko, S.; Kline, J.; Koehlenbeck, S.; Kokeyama, K.; Kondrashov, V.; Koranda, S.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kremin, A.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Królak, A.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, A.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Kwee, P.; Landry, M.; Lantz, B.; Larson, S.; Lasky, P. D.; Lawrie, C.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C.-H.; Lee, H. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, J.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Le Roux, A.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Levine, B.; Lewis, J.; Li, T. G. F.; Libbrecht, K.; Libson, A.; Lin, A. C.; Littenberg, T. B.; Litvine, V.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Lockett, V.; Lodhia, D.; Loew, K.; Logue, J.; Lombardi, A. L.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J.; Lubinski, M. J.; Lück, H.; Luijten, E.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Macarthur, J.; Macdonald, E. P.; MacDonald, T.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magana-Sandoval, F.; Mageswaran, M.; Maglione, C.; Mailand, K.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Manca, G. M.; Mandel, I.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mangini, N.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Márka, S.; Márka, Z.; Markosyan, A.; Maros, E.; Marque, J.; Martelli, F.; Martin, I. W.; Martin, R. M.; Martinelli, L.; Martynov, D.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Matzner, R. A.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; Mazzolo, G.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McLin, K.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Mehmet, M.; Meidam, J.; Meinders, M.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Meyers, P.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Milde, S.; Miller, J.; Minenkov, Y.; Mingarelli, C. M. F.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moe, B.; Moesta, P.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morgado, N.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, C. L.; Mueller, G.; Mukherjee, S.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D.; Murray, P. G.; Mytidis, A.; Nagy, M. F.; Nanda Kumar, D.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Necula, V.; Nelemans, G.; Neri, I.; Neri, M.; Newton, G.; Nguyen, T.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Ochsner, E.; O'Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oppermann, P.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Osthelder, C.; Ottaway, D. J.; Ottens, R. S.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Padilla, C.; Pai, A.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pan, H.; Pan, Y.; Pankow, C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoletti, R.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Pedraza, M.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Phelps, M.; Pichot, M.; Pickenpack, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poeld, J.; Poggiani, R.; Poteomkin, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Premachandra, S.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Privitera, S.; Prix, R.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Qin, J.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E.; Quiroga, G.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Rácz, I.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajalakshmi, G.; Rakhmanov, M.; Ramet, C.; Ramirez, K.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rhoades, E.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Robertson, N. A.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rodruck, M.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosińska, D.; Rowan, S.; Rüdiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.; Salemi, F.; Sammut, L.; Sandberg, V.; Sanders, J. R.; Sannibale, V.; Santiago-Prieto, I.; Saracco, E.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Savage, R.; Scheuer, J.; Schilling, R.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Shaddock, D.; Shah, S.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltev, M.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Sidery, T. L.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sigg, D.; Simakov, D.; Singer, A.; Singer, L.; Singh, R.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Slutsky, J.; Smith, J. R.; Smith, M.; Smith, R. J. E.; Smith-Lefebvre, N. D.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Souradeep, T.; Sperandio, L.; Staley, A.; Stebbins, J.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Stephens, B. C.; Steplewski, S.; Stevenson, S.; Stone, R.; Stops, D.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Strigin, S.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Susmithan, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taylor, R.; ter Braack, A. P. M.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thorne, K. S.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Tomlinson, C.; Toncelli, A.; Tonelli, M.; Torre, O.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Tse, M.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Urbanek, K.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; Vallisneri, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; van der Putten, S.; van der Sluys, M. V.; van Heijningen, J.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vass, S.; Vasúth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Verma, S. S.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Vincent-Finley, R.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyachanin, S. P.; Wade, A.; Wade, L.; Wade, M.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Ward, R. L.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L.-W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Welborn, T.; Wen, L.; Wessels, P.; West, M.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; White, D. J.; Whiting, B. F.; Wiesner, K.; Wilkinson, C.; Williams, K.; Williams, L.; Williams, R.; Williams, T.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wiseman, A. G.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Worden, J.; Yablon, J.; Yakushin, I.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yang, H.; Yang, Z.; Yoshida, S.; Yvert, M.; ZadroŻny, A.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J.-P.; Zhang, Fan; Zhang, L.; Zhao, C.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S.; Zweizig, J.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration; Virgo Collaboration

2014-09-01

We present the first results of an all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from unknown spinning neutron stars in binary systems using LIGO and Virgo data. Using a specially developed analysis program, the TwoSpect algorithm, the search was carried out on data from the sixth LIGO science run and the second and third Virgo science runs. The search covers a range of frequencies from 20 Hz to 520 Hz, a range of orbital periods from 2 to ˜2,254 h and a frequency- and period-dependent range of frequency modulation depths from 0.277 to 100 mHz. This corresponds to a range of projected semimajor axes of the orbit from ˜0.6×10-3 ls to ˜6,500 ls assuming the orbit of the binary is circular. While no plausible candidate gravitational wave events survive the pipeline, upper limits are set on the analyzed data. The most sensitive 95% confidence upper limit obtained on gravitational wave strain is 2.3×10-24 at 217 Hz, assuming the source waves are circularly polarized. Although this search has been optimized for circular binary orbits, the upper limits obtained remain valid for orbital eccentricities as large as 0.9. In addition, upper limits are placed on continuous gravitational wave emission from the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1 between 20 Hz and 57.25 Hz.

Rotation of Low-mass Stars in Upper Scorpius and ρ Ophiuchus with K2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rebull, L. M.; Stauffer, J. R.; Cody, A. M.; Hillenbrand, L. A.; David, T. J.; Pinsonneault, M.

2018-05-01

We present an analysis of K2 light curves (LCs) for candidate members of the young Upper Sco (USco) association (∼8 Myr) and the neighboring ρ Oph embedded cluster (∼1 Myr). We establish ∼1300 stars as probable members, ∼80% of which are periodic. The phased LCs have a variety of shapes which can be attributed to physical causes ranging from stellar pulsation and stellar rotation to disk-related phenomena. We identify and discuss a number of observed behaviors. The periods are ∼0.2–30 days with a peak near 2 days and the rapid period end nearing breakup velocity. M stars in the young USco region rotate systematically faster than GK stars, a pattern also present in K2 data for the older Pleiades and Praesepe systems. At higher masses (types FGK), the well-defined period–color relationship for slowly rotating stars seen in the Pleiades and Praesepe systems is not yet present in USco. Circumstellar disks are present predominantly among the more slowly rotating M stars in USco, with few disks in the subday rotators. However, M dwarfs with disks rotate faster on average than FGK systems with disks. For four of these disked M dwarfs, we provide direct evidence for disk locking based on the K2 LC morphologies. Our preliminary analysis shows a relatively mass-independent spin-up by a factor of ∼3.5 between USco and the Pleiades, then mass-dependent spin-down between Pleiades and Praesepe.

A DYNAMICAL STUDY OF SUSPECTED RUNAWAY STARS AS TRACES OF PAST SUPERNOVA EXPLOSIONS IN THE REGION OF THE SCORPIUS-CENTAURUS OB ASSOCIATION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jilinski, E.; Ortega, V. G.; Drake, N. A.

2010-09-20

We address the question of identifying possible past supernovae events taking place in the region of the Scorpius-Centaurus (Sco-Cen) OB association based on stars proposed by Hoogerwerf et al. With this purpose, we obtained a time series of high-resolution spectra of six stars (HIP 42038, HIP 46950, HIP 48943, HIP 69491, HIP 76013, and HIP 82868) which, according to Hoogerwerf et al., may have been runaway stars with origins in the region of the Sco-Cen association. This also includes the nearby young open clusters IC 2391 and IC 2602. If confirmed, such supernovae events could, in principle, have played amore » role in triggering the formation of some small stellar groups thought to be associated with the Sco-Cen association. Our analysis shows that, except for HIP 48943, the remaining stars are spectroscopic binary systems. For HIP 46950 and HIP 69491, this was already noted by other authors. Our high-resolution spectra allowed us to obtain the radial velocities for all the stars which, combined with their proper motions and parallaxes from Hipparcos, provide a means to investigate, by retracing their orbits, if the Sco-Cen region was, in fact, the origin of these stars. We find that none of these systems originated in the Sco-Cen region. Exploring the possibility that the birthplace of the studied stars occurred in the clusters IC 2391 and IC 2602, we noticed that at the epoch of 2-3 Myr ago these clusters were at a distance comparable with their tidal radii.« less

The kinematics of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association from Gaia DR1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, Nicholas J.; Mamajek, Eric E.

2018-05-01

We present a kinematic study of the Scorpius-Centaurus (Sco-Cen) OB association (Sco OB2) using Gaia DR1 parallaxes and proper motions. Our goal is to test the classical theory that OB associations are the expanded remnants of dense and compact star clusters disrupted by processes such as residual gas expulsion. Gaia astrometry is available for 258 out of 433 members of the association, with revised Hipparcos astrometry used for the remainder. We use these data to confirm that the three subgroups of Sco-Cen are gravitationally unbound and have non-isotropic velocity dispersions, suggesting that they have not had time to dynamically relax. We also explore the internal kinematics of the subgroups to search for evidence of expansion. We test Blaauw's classical linear model of expansion, search for velocity trends along the Galactic axes, compare the expanding and non-expanding convergence points, perform traceback analysis assuming both linear trajectories and using an epicycle approximation, and assess the evidence for expansion in proper motions corrected for virtual expansion/contraction. None of these methods provide coherent evidence for expansion of the subgroups, with no evidence to suggest that the subgroups had a more compact configuration in the past. We find evidence for kinematic substructure within the subgroups that supports the view that they were not formed by the disruption of individual star clusters. We conclude that Sco-Cen was likely to have been born highly substructured, with multiple small-scale star formation events contributing to the overall OB association, and not as single, monolithic burst of clustered star formation.

Convective radiation fluid-dynamics: formation and early evolution of ultra low-mass objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wuchterl, G.

2005-12-01

The formation process of ultra low-mass objects is some kind of extension of the star formation process. The physical changes towards lower mass are discussed by investigating the collapse of cloud cores that are modelled as Bonnor-Ebert spheres. Their collapse is followed by solving the equations of fluid dynamics with radiation and a model of time-dependent convection that has been calibrated to the Sun. For a sequence of cloud-cores with 1 to 0.01 solar masses, evolutionary tracks and isochrones are shown in the mass-radius diagram, the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram and the effective temperature-surface gravity or Kiel diagram. The collapse and the early hydrostatic evolution to ages of few Ma are briefly discussed and compared to observations of objects in Upper Scorpius and the low-mass components of GG Tau.

Comet ISON Swoops Around the Sun

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-12-02

Comet ISON swoops around the sun and through Scorpius. This composite merges an SDO AIA 171 sun image (Nov. 28, 2214 UT), SOHO C2 (2036 UT) and C3 (2030 UT) images, and a DSS view of the sky in northern Scorpius. Credit: NASA/ESA/SOHO, NASA/SDO, DSS, and Francis Reddy NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Characterization of an amidated form of pancreatic polypeptide from the daddy sculpin (Cottus scorpius).

PubMed

Conlon, J M; Schmidt, W E; Gallwitz, B; Falkmer, S; Thim, L

1986-12-30

The primary structure of pancreatic polypeptide from the teleostean fish, Cottus scorpius (daddy sculpin) was established as: YPPQPESPGGNASPEDWAKYHAAVRHYVNLITRQRYNH2 The presence of a COOH-terminally alpha-amidated amino acid was established using an HPLC method of general applicability. Although the peptide shows strong homology towards anglerfish pancreatic polypeptide (86%), homology towards porcine peptide YY (PYY) (61%) and porcine neuropeptide Y (NPY) (61%) was greater than towards porcine pancreatic polypeptide (PP) (47%). This result supports suggestions that the gene duplication events which led to PP, NPY and PYY formation took place after the time of divergence of fish and mammals.

A Thermal Infrared Imaging Study of Very Low Mass, Wide-separation Brown Dwarf Companions to Upper Scorpius Stars: Constraining Circumstellar Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bailey, Vanessa; Hinz, Philip M.; Currie, Thayne; Su, Kate Y. L.; Esposito, Simone; Hill, John M.; Hoffmann, William F.; Jones, Terry; Kim, Jihun; Leisenring, Jarron; Meyer, Michael; Murray-Clay, Ruth; Nelson, Matthew J.; Pinna, Enrico; Puglisi, Alfio; Rieke, George; Rodigas, Timothy; Skemer, Andrew; Skrutskie, Michael F.; Vaitheeswaran, Vidhya; Wilson, John C.

2013-04-01

We present a 3-5 μm LBT/MMT adaptive optics imaging study of three Upper Scorpius stars with brown dwarf (BD) companions with very low masses/mass ratios (M BD <25 M Jup; M BD/M sstarf ≈ 1%-2%) and wide separations (300-700 AU): GSC 06214, 1RXS 1609, and HIP 78530. We combine these new thermal IR data with existing 1-4 μm and 24 μm photometry to constrain the properties of the BDs and identify evidence for circumprimary/circumsecondary disks in these unusual systems. We confirm that GSC 06214B is surrounded by a disk, further showing that this disk produces a broadband IR excess due to small dust near the dust sublimation radius. An unresolved 24 μm excess in the system may be explained by the contribution from this disk. 1RXS 1609B exhibits no 3-4 μm excess, nor does its primary; however, the system as a whole has a modest 24 μm excess, which may come from warm dust around the primary and/or BD. Neither object in the HIP 78530 system exhibits near- to mid-IR excesses. We additionally find that the 1-4 μm colors of HIP 78530B match a spectral type of M3 ± 2, inconsistent with the M8 spectral type assigned based on its near-IR spectrum, indicating that it may be a low-mass star rather than a BD. We present new upper limits on additional low-mass companions in the system (<5 M Jup beyond 175 AU). Finally, we examine the utility of circumsecondary disks as probes of the formation histories of wide BD companions, finding that the presence of a disk may disfavor BD formation near the primary with subsequent outward scattering. Observations reported here were obtained at the LBT and MMT Observatories. The MMT Observatory is a joint facility of the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian Institution. The LBT is an international collaboration among institutions in the United States, Italy, and Germany. LBT Corporation partners are: The University of Arizona on behalf of the Arizona university system; Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Italy; LBT Beteiligungsgesellschaft, Germany, representing the Max-Planck Society, the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, and Heidelberg University; The Ohio State University; and The Research Corporation, on behalf of The University of Notre Dame, University of Minnesota, and University of Virginia.

Squeezed between shells? The origin of the Lupus I molecular cloud. II. APEX CO and GASS H I observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaczkowski, B.; Roccatagliata, V.; Flaischlen, S.; Kröll, D.; Krause, M. G. H.; Burkert, A.; Diehl, R.; Fierlinger, K.; Ngoumou, J.; Preibisch, T.

2017-12-01

Context. Lupus I cloud is found between the Upper Scorpius (USco) and Upper Centaurus-Lupus (UCL) subgroups of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association, where the expanding USco H I shell appears to interact with a bubble currently driven by the winds of the remaining B stars of UCL. Aims: We investigate whether the Lupus I molecular could have formed in a colliding flow, and in particular, how the kinematics of the cloud might have been influenced by the larger scale gas dynamics. Methods: We performed APEX 13CO(2-1)and C18O(2-1) line observations of three distinct parts of Lupus I that provide kinematic information on the cloud at high angular and spectral resolution. We compare those results to the atomic hydrogen data from the GASS H I survey and our dust emission results presented in the previous paper. Based on the velocity information, we present a geometric model for the interaction zone between the USco shell and the UCL wind bubble. Results: We present evidence that the molecular gas of Lupus Iis tightly linked to the atomic material of the USco shell. The CO emission in Lupus Iis found mainly at velocities between vLSR = 3-6 km s-1, which is in the same range as the H I velocities. Thus, the molecular cloud is co-moving with the expanding USco atomic H I shell. The gas in the cloud shows a complex kinematic structure with several line-of-sight components that overlay each other. The nonthermal velocity dispersion is in the transonic regime in all parts of the cloud and could be injected by external compression. Our observations and the derived geometric model agree with a scenario in which Lupus Iis located in the interaction zone between the USco shell and the UCL wind bubble. Conclusions: The kinematics observations are consistent with a scenario in which the Lupus Icloud formed via shell instabilities. The particular location of Lupus I between USco and UCL suggests that counterpressure from the UCL wind bubble and pre-existing density enhancements, perhaps left over from the gas stream that formed the stellar subgroups, may have played a role in its formation. This publication is based on data acquired with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), which is a collaboration between the Max-Planck-Institut fur Radioastronomie, the European Southern Observatory, and the Onsala Space Observatory.The 13CO(2-1) and C18O(2-1) spectral cubes are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/608/A102

Thermal dependence of cardiac function in arctic fish: implications of a warming world.

PubMed

Franklin, Craig E; Farrell, Anthony P; Altimiras, Jordi; Axelsson, Michael

2013-11-15

With the Arctic experiencing one of the greatest and most rapid increases in sea temperatures in modern time, predicting how Arctic marine organisms will respond to elevated temperatures has become crucial for conservation biology. Here, we examined the thermal sensitivity of cardiorespiratory performance for three closely related species of sculpins that inhabit the Arctic waters, two of which, Gymnocanthus tricuspis and Myoxocephalus scorpioides, have adapted to a restricted range within the Arctic, whereas the third species, Myoxocephalus scorpius, has a wider distribution. We tested the hypothesis that the fish restricted to Arctic cold waters would show reduced cardiorespiratory scope in response to an increase in temperature, as compared with the more eurythermal M. scorpius. As expected from their biogeography, M. scorpioides and G. tricuspis maximised cardiorespiratory performance at temperatures between 1 and 4°C, whereas M. scorpius maximised performance over a wider range of temperatures (1-10°C). Furthermore, factorial scope for cardiac output collapsed at elevated temperature for the two high-latitude species, negatively impacting their ability to support aerobically driven metabolic processes. Consequently, these results concurred with our hypothesis, suggesting that the sculpin species restricted to the Arctic are likely to be negatively impacted by increases in ocean temperatures.

Spectral comparison of directly imaged, young substellar companions using integral field spectroscopy - construction of an empiric log g sequence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidt, T.; Neuhaüser, R.; Seifahrt, A.

2010-10-01

About 15 substellar companions with large separations (>∼50 AU) to their young primary stars and brown dwarfs are confirmed by both common proper motion and late-M / early-L type spectra. The origin and early evolution of these objects is still under debate. While often these substellar companions are regarded as brown dwarfs, they could possibly also be massive planets, the mass estimates are very uncertain so far. They are companions to primary stars or brown dwarfs in young associations and star forming regions like the TW Hya association, Upper Scorpius, Taurus, Beta Pic moving group, TucHor association, Lupus, Ophiuchus, and Chamaeleon, hence their ages and distances are well known, in contrast to free-floating brown dwarfs. An empirical classification is not possible, because a spectral sequence that is taking the lower gravity into account, is not existing. This problem leads to an apparent mismatch between spectra of old field type objects and young low-mass companions at the same effective temperature, hampering a determination of temperature and surface gravity independent from models. Now that about 15 such substellar candidates are found in associations of different ages, 1 - 35 Myrs, it is possible to study their spectra in comparison to each other using the advantage of light concentration by an adaptive optics system with their primary as guide star. Therefore we have begun the construction of an empirical log g sequence from beginning to observe all these substellar companions homogeneously using the AO-assisted integral field spectrograph SINFONI at VLT (ESO).

Squeezed between shells? The origin of the Lupus I molecular cloud. APEX/LABOCA, Herschel, and Planck observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaczkowski, B.; Preibisch, T.; Stanke, T.; Krause, M. G. H.; Burkert, A.; Diehl, R.; Fierlinger, K.; Kroell, D.; Ngoumou, J.; Roccatagliata, V.

2015-12-01

Context. The Lupus I cloud is found between the Upper Scorpius (USco) and the Upper Centaurus-Lupus (UCL) subgroups of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association, where the expanding USco H I shell appears to interact with a bubble currently driven by the winds of the remaining B-stars of UCL. Aims: We want to study how collisions of large-scale interstellar gas flows form and influence new dense clouds in the ISM. Methods: We performed LABOCA continuum sub-mm observations of Lupus I that provide for the first time a direct view of the densest, coldest cloud clumps and cores at high angular resolution. We complemented these data with Herschel and Planck data from which we constructed column density and temperature maps. From the Herschel and LABOCA column density maps we calculated probability density functions (PDFs) to characterize the density structure of the cloud. Results: The northern part of Lupus I is found to have, on average, lower densities, higher temperatures, and no active star formation. The center-south part harbors dozens of pre-stellar cores where density and temperature reach their maximum and minimum, respectively. Our analysis of the column density PDFs from the Herschel data show double-peak profiles for all parts of the cloud, which we attribute to an external compression. In those parts with active star formation, the PDF shows a power-law tail at high densities. The PDFs we calculated from our LABOCA data trace the denser parts of the cloud showing one peak and a power-law tail. With LABOCA we find 15 cores with masses between 0.07 and 1.71 M⊙ and a total mass of ≈8 M⊙. The total gas and dust mass of the cloud is ≈164 M⊙ and hence ~5% of the mass is in cores. From the Herschel and Planck data we find a total mass of ≈174 M⊙ and ≈171 M⊙, respectively. Conclusions: The position, orientation, and elongated shape of Lupus I, the double-peak PDFs and the population of pre-stellar and protostellar cores could be explained by the large-scale compression from the advancing USco H I shell and the UCL wind bubble. The Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) is a collaboration between the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the Onsala Space Observatory (OSO).Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.Final APEX cube and Herschel N and T maps as FITS files are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/584/A36

Discovery of new dipper stars with K2: a window into the inner disc region of T Tauri stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hedges, Christina; Hodgkin, Simon; Kennedy, Grant

2018-05-01

In recent years, a new class of young stellar object (YSO) has been defined, referred to as dippers, where large transient drops in flux are observed. These dips are too large to be attributed to stellar variability, last from hours to days and can reduce the flux of a star by 10-50 per cent. This variability has been attributed to occultations by warps or accretion columns near the inner edge of circumstellar discs. Here, we present 95 dippers in the Upper Scorpius association and ρ Ophiuchus cloud complex found in K2 Campaign 2 data using supervised machine learning with a random forest classifier. We also present 30 YSOs that exhibit brightening events on the order of days, known as bursters. Not all dippers and bursters are known members, but all exhibit infrared excesses and are consistent with belonging to either of the two young star-forming regions. We find 21.0 ± 5.5 per cent of stars with discs are dippers for both regions combined. Our entire dipper sample consists only of late-type (KM) stars, but we show that biases limit dipper discovery for earlier spectral types. Using the dipper properties as a proxy, we find that the temperature at the inner disc edge is consistent with interferometric results for similar and earlier type stars.

M Dwarf Rotation from the K2 Young Clusters to the Field. I. A Mass-Rotation Correlation at 10 Myr

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Somers, Garrett; Stauffer, John; Rebull, Luisa; Cody, Ann Marie; Pinsonneault, Marc

2017-12-01

Recent observations of the low-mass (0.1-0.6 {M}⊙ ) rotation distributions of the Pleiades and Praesepe clusters have revealed a ubiquitous correlation between mass and rotation, such that late M dwarfs rotate an order-of-magnitude faster than early M dwarfs. In this paper, we demonstrate that this mass-rotation correlation is present in the 10 Myr Upper Scorpius association, as revealed by new K2 rotation measurements. Using rotational evolution models, we show that the low-mass rotation distribution of the 125 Myr Pleiades cluster can only be produced if it hosted an equally strong mass-rotation correlation at 10 Myr. This suggests that physical processes important in the early pre-main sequence (PMS; star formation, accretion, disk-locking) are primarily responsible for the M dwarf rotation morphology, and not quirks of later angular momentum (AM) evolution. Such early mass trends must be taken into account when constructing initial conditions for future studies of stellar rotation. Finally, we show that the average M star loses ˜25%-40% of its AM between 10 and 125 Myr, a figure accurately and generically predicted by modern solar-calibrated wind models. Their success rules out a lossless PMS and validates the extrapolation of magnetic wind laws designed for solar-type stars to the low-mass regime at early times.

A new compact young moving group around V1062 Scorpii

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Röser, Siegfried; Schilbach, Elena; Goldman, Bertrand; Henning, Thomas; Moor, Attila; Derekas, Aliz

2018-06-01

Aims: We are searching for new open clusters or moving groups in the solar neighbourhood. Methods: We used the Gaia-TGAS catalogue, cut it into narrow proper motion and parallax slices and searched for significant spatial over-densities of stars in each slice. We then examined stars forming over-densities in optical and near-infrared colour-magnitude diagrams to determine if they are compatible with isochrones of a cluster. Results: We detected a hitherto unknown moving group or cluster in the Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL) section of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association (Sco-Cen) at a distance of 175 pc from the Sun. It is a group of 63 comoving stars of less than 10 to about 25 Myr in age. For the brightest stars that are present in the Gaia-TGAS catalogue, the mean difference between kinematic and trigonometric distance moduli is - 0.01 mag with a standard deviation of 0.11 mag. Fainter cluster candidates are found in the HSOY catalogue, where no trigonometric parallaxes are available. For a subset of our candidate stars, we obtained radial velocity measurements at the MPG/ESO 2.2 m telescope in La Silla. Altogether we found 12 members with confirmed radial velocities and parallaxes, 31 with parallaxes or radial velocities, and 20 candidates from the convergent point method. The isochrone masses of our 63 members range from 2.6 to 0.7 M⊙.

The Exoplanet Migration Timescale from K2 Young Clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rizzuto, Aaron

A significant fraction of exoplanets orbit within 0.1 AU of their host star, with periods of <20 days. The discovery of these close-in planets has defied conventional models of planet formation and evolution based on our own solar system. It is widely accepted that these close-in planets did not form in such close proximity to their host stars (both rocky planets and hot Jupiters), but rather that dynamical or interactive processes caused them to migrate inwards from larger orbital semimajor axes and periods. There are multiple planet migration scenarios proposed in the literature, though it is unclear how much of the known planet population is attributable to each mechanism. Planetary migration models can be loosely divided into two categories: disk-driven migration and dynamical migration. Disk migration occurs over the lifetime of the protoplanetary disk (<5 Myr), while migration involving dynamical multi-body interactions operates on timescales of 100 Myr to 1Gyr, a lengthier process than disk migration. The K2 mission has measured planet formation timescales and migration pathways by sampling groups of stars at key ages. Over the past 10 campaigns, multiple groups of young stars have been observed by K2, ranging from the 10 Myr Upper Scorpius OB association, through the <120 Myr Pleiades cluster, to the ,600-800 Myr Hyades and Praesepe clusters. Upcoming data from more recent campaigns include the 2Myr Taurus region and significantly more Upper Scorpius members in C13 and 15. The frequency, orbital properties, and compositions of the exoplanet population in these samples of different age, with careful treatment of detection completeness, distinguish these scenarios of exoplanet migration as their host stars are settling onto the main sequence. We have pioneered efforts to identify transiting exoplanets in the K2 data for young clusters and moving groups, and have developed a new, highly complete, detrending algorithm for rotational induced variability that is commonly seen in the light curves of young, active stars (Rizzuto et al. in prep). We have identified 11 candidate planets in Praesepe, Hyades, Upper Sco, and the Pleiades using these methods, the first of which has now been published with follow-up (Mann et al. 2016abc; Gaidos et al. 2016). This sample of detected planet candidates gives a promising first indication of the timescale over which planet migration occurs, favoring dynamical multi-body processes. However, because rotational activity in young stars makes detection of exoplanet transits more difficult for the younger clusters (e.g, Upper Sco, Pleiades), to robustly prove that these frequencies are true representations of the short-period planet occurrence rate at different PMS ages will require robust determination of detection limits in these highly variable young-star lightcurves. We propose to address the question of planet migration with a uniform injection-recovery test of young cluster members, to robustly measure the detectability of planets of differing size and orbit. This will involve detrending the light curve data of instrumental and rotational systematics, injecting a synthetic transit signature from a grid of planetary and orbital parameters, reversing the detrending, and then executing our transit search pipeline (which is tuned for highly active young stars) and mapping the recovery rate as a function of planet parameters for every individual light curve. With this map of detectability as a function of planet properties for each light curve and a full program of detected exoplanet follow-up, we can then directly confirm any change in the occurrence rates of close-in (P<20 day) planets with cluster age and identify the most significant migration mechanism.

In the Blackest Night, a Green Ring Nebula

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-06-15

This glowing emerald nebula seen by NASA Spitzer Space Telescope is named RCW 120; this region of hot gas and glowing dust can be found in the murky clouds encircled by the tail of the constellation Scorpius.

In the Grip of the Scorpion Claw

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-09-21

Gripped in the claw of the constellation Scorpius sits the reflection nebula DG 129, a cloud of gas and dust that reflects light from nearby, bright stars. This infrared view of the nebula was captured by NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer.

Gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1: A comparison of search methods and prospects for detection with advanced detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Messenger, C.; Bulten, H. J.; Crowder, S. G.; Dergachev, V.; Galloway, D. K.; Goetz, E.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Lasky, P. D.; Meadors, G. D.; Melatos, A.; Premachandra, S.; Riles, K.; Sammut, L.; Thrane, E. H.; Whelan, J. T.; Zhang, Y.

2015-07-01

The low-mass X-ray binary Scorpius X-1 (Sco X-1) is potentially the most luminous source of continuous gravitational-wave radiation for interferometers such as LIGO and Virgo. For low-mass X-ray binaries this radiation would be sustained by active accretion of matter from its binary companion. With the Advanced Detector Era fast approaching, work is underway to develop an array of robust tools for maximizing the science and detection potential of Sco X-1. We describe the plans and progress of a project designed to compare the numerous independent search algorithms currently available. We employ a mock-data challenge in which the search pipelines are tested for their relative proficiencies in parameter estimation, computational efficiency, robustness, and most importantly, search sensitivity. The mock-data challenge data contains an ensemble of 50 Scorpius X-1 (Sco X-1) type signals, simulated within a frequency band of 50-1500 Hz. Simulated detector noise was generated assuming the expected best strain sensitivity of Advanced LIGO [1] and Advanced VIRGO [2] (4 ×10-24 Hz-1 /2 ). A distribution of signal amplitudes was then chosen so as to allow a useful comparison of search methodologies. A factor of 2 in strain separates the quietest detected signal, at 6.8 ×10-26 strain, from the torque-balance limit at a spin frequency of 300 Hz, although this limit could range from 1.2 ×10-25 (25 Hz) to 2.2 ×10-26 (750 Hz) depending on the unknown frequency of Sco X-1. With future improvements to the search algorithms and using advanced detector data, our expectations for probing below the theoretical torque-balance strain limit are optimistic.

Metal residues, histopathology and presence of parasites in the liver and gills of fourhorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus quadricornis) and shorthorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius) near a former lead-zinc mine in East Greenland

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dang, Mai

Fourhorn sculpins (Myoxocephalus quadricornis) and shorthorn sculpins (Myoxocephalus scorpius) have been considered suitable local bioindicators for environmental monitoring studies in the Arctic. Because these species share many characteristics, data from the two species have previously been pooled when assessing marine metal contamination. A chemical and histological study was conducted on fourhorn and shorthorn sculpins collected around a contaminated lead-zinc mine at East Greenland to investigate whether there were any differences in the residues of metals, histopathology and parasites in liver and gills between the two sculpin species. The results demonstrated that concentrations of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), mercury (Hg) andmore » lead (Pb) were significantly higher in the fourhorn sculpins (p<0.001) while there were no significant differences for arsenic (As) or cadmium (Cd). Furthermore, density of blood vessel fibrosis (p=0.028), prevalence and density of chondroplasia (p=0.002 and p=0.005, respectively), number of mucin-containing mucous cells (p<0.001) and chloride cells (p<0.001) and mean intensity of colonial Peritricha (p<0.001) were significantly higher in fourhorn sculpin. Based on these results we suggest that pooling the two species when conducting environmental assessments is not recommended as it can lead to incorrect conclusions. We propose that a larger study investigating the biological effects of zinc-lead mining in Greenland is needed. - Highlights: • Fourhorn sculpins (Myoxocephalus quadricornis) more sensitive to pollution than shorthorn sculpins (Myoxocephalus scorpius). • Metal residues, histological changes and presence of parasites were species-specific. • Different sculpin species should not be pooled together as pollution biomarkers.« less

More Rapidly Rotating PMS M Dwarfs with Light Curves Suggestive of Orbiting Clouds of Material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stauffer, John; Rebull, Luisa; David, Trevor J.; Jardine, Moira; Collier Cameron, Andrew; Cody, Ann Marie; Hillenbrand, Lynne A.; Barrado, David; van Eyken, Julian; Melis, Carl; Briceno, Cesar

2018-02-01

In a previous paper, using data from K2 Campaign 2, we identified 11 very low mass members of the ρ Oph and Upper Scorpius star-forming region as having periodic photometric variability and phased light curves showing multiple scallops or undulations. All of the stars with the “scallop-shell” light curve morphology are mid-to-late M dwarfs without evidence of active accretion and with photometric periods generally <1 day. Their phased light curves have too much structure to be attributed to non-axisymmetrically distributed photospheric spots and rotational modulation. We have now identified an additional eight probable members of the same star-forming region plus three stars in the Taurus star-forming region with this same light curve morphology and sharing the same period and spectral type range as the previous group. We describe the light curves of these new stars in detail and present their general physical characteristics. We also examine the properties of the overall set of stars in order to identify common features that might help elucidate the causes of their photometric variability.

Revisiting the birth locations of pulsars B1929+10, B2020+28, and B2021+51

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirsten, Franz; Vlemmings, Wouter; Campbell, Robert M.; Kramer, Michael; Chatterjee, Shami

2015-05-01

We present new proper motion and parallax measurements obtained with the European VLBI Network (EVN) at 5GHz for the three isolated pulsars B1929+10, B2020+28, and B2021+51. For B1929+10 we combined our data with earlier VLBI measurements and confirm the robustness of the astrometric parameters of this pulsar. For pulsars B2020+28 and B2021+51 our observations indicate that both stars are almost a factor of two closer to the solar system than previously thought, placing them at a distance of 1.39-0.06+0.05 and 1.25-0.17+ 0.14kpc. Using our new astrometry, we simulated the orbits of all three pulsars in the Galactic potential with the aim to confirm or reject previously proposed birth locations. Our observations ultimately rule out a claimed binary origin of B1929+10 and the runaway star ζ Ophiuchi in Upper Scorpius. A putative common binary origin of B2020+28 and B2021+51 in the Cygnus Superbubble is also very unlikely.

Long-term X-ray studies of Scorpius X-1. I - Search for binary periodicity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holt, S. S.; Boldt, E. A.; Serlemitsos, P. J.; Kaluzienski, L. J.

1976-01-01

No evidence for modulation of the Sco X-1 intensity between 3 and 6 keV at the optical period of 0.787313 day is found during one year of quasi-continuous observation. Any persistent X-ray modulation at this period must be less than one percent.

Two New Species of Xenotarsonemus (Acari: Tarsonemidae) from the Atlantic Forest, Brazil.

PubMed

Lofego, A C; Cavalcante, A C C; Demite, P R

2018-04-01

Two new species, Xenotarsonemus quiriri n. sp. and Xenotarsonemus scorpius n. sp., are described and illustrated in this paper based on specimens collected on Myrtaceae plants in Atlantic Forest areas of the states of Bahia and Santa Catarina, Brazil. A key to identification of Xenotarsonemus species reported from Brazil is provided.

Unibody Composite Pressurized Structure (UCPS) for In-Space Propulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rufer, Markus

2015-01-01

Microcosm, Inc., in conjunction with the Scorpius Space Launch Company, is developing a UCPS (Unibody Composite Pressurized Structure )for in-space propulsion. This innovative approach constitutes a clean break from traditional spacecraft design by combining what were traditionally separate primary and secondary support structures and metal propellant tanks into a single unit.

NEW BROWN DWARF COMPANIONS TO YOUNG STARS IN SCORPIUS-CENTAURUS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Janson, Markus; Jayawardhana, Ray; Bonavita, Mariangela

2012-10-10

We present the discoveries of three faint companions to young stars in the Scorpius-Centaurus region, imaged with the NICI instrument on Gemini South. We have confirmed all three companions through common proper motion tests. Follow-up spectroscopy has confirmed two of them, HIP 65423 B and HIP 65517 B, to be brown dwarfs, while the third, HIP 72099 B, is more likely a very low mass star just above the hydrogen burning limit. The detection of wide companions in the mass range of {approx}40-100 M{sub jup} complements previous work in the same region, reporting detections of similarly wide companions with lowermore » masses, in the range of {approx}10-30 M{sub jup}. Such low masses near the deuterium burning limit have raised the question of whether those objects formed like planets or stars. The existence of intermediate objects as reported here could represent a bridge between lower-mass companions and stellar companions, but in any case demonstrate that mass alone may not provide a clear-cut distinction for the formation of low-mass companions to stars.« less

The isolation, purification and amino-acid sequence of insulin from the teleost fish Cottus scorpius (daddy sculpin).

PubMed

Cutfield, J F; Cutfield, S M; Carne, A; Emdin, S O; Falkmer, S

1986-07-01

Insulin from the principal islets of the teleost fish, Cottus scorpius (daddy sculpin), has been isolated and sequenced. Purification involved acid/alcohol extraction, gel filtration, and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography to yield nearly 1 mg pure insulin/g wet weight islet tissue. Biological potency was estimated as 40% compared to porcine insulin. The sculpin insulin crystallised in the absence of zinc ions although zinc is known to be present in the islets in significant amounts. Two other hormones, glucagon and pancreatic polypeptide, were copurified with the insulin, and an N-terminal sequence for pancreatic polypeptide was determined. The primary structure of sculpin insulin shows a number of sequence changes unique so far amongst teleost fish. These changes occur at A14 (Arg), A15 (Val), and B2 (Asp). The B chain contains 29 amino acids and there is no N-terminal extension as seen with several other fish. Presumably as a result of the amino acid substitutions, sculpin insulin does not readily form crystals containing zinc-insulin hexamers, despite the presence of the coordinating B10 His.

Co-evolution of soils and vegetation in the Aísa Valley Experimental Station (Central Pyrenees)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Serrano Muela, Maria Pilar; Nadal Romero, Estela; Lasanta, Teodoro; María García Ruiz, José

2013-04-01

Soils and vegetation tend to evolve jointly in relation to climate evolution and the impacts of human activity. This study analyzes soil and vegetation characteristics under various plant covers, using information from the Aísa Valley Experimental Station (AVES), Spanish Pyrenees, from 1991 to 2010. The land uses considered were: dense shrub cover, grazing meadow, abandoned field, cereal (barley), abandoned shifting agriculture, active shifting agriculture, burnt1 and burnt2 plots, and in-fallow plot. All the plots were installed on a field abandoned 45 years ago. Some of the plots did not change in plant cover through the study period (e.g., the meadow, cereal and shifting agriculture plots), but others underwent changes in density and composition, such as: (i) The dense shrub cover plot represents the natural evolution of the abandoned field. When the AVES was equipped, this plot was completely dominated by Genista scorpius, with a few stands of Rosa gr. Canina. Twenty years later, Genista scorpius is affected of senescence and shows almost no regeneration capacity. (ii) The abandoned field had previously been cultivated with cereals until 1993. Once abandoned, the progression of plant colonization was very rapid. Firstly with grasses and, 10 years later, with Genista scorpius. At present, this latter occupies more than 50% of the plot. (iii) The evolution of plant colonization in the abandoned shifting agriculture plot was slower than that in the 'normal' abandoned field, mainly because of the differences in fertilization when they were cultivated. (iv) One of the burnt plots evolved from 0% to a coverage of almost 100% in a shot period, whereas the other plot remained with a shrub density of about 60% several years after the fire. Soil samples (superficial and depth) were analyzed to obtain physical and chemical properties: structure, texture, pH, CaCO3, Organic Matter and various anions and cations. The main purpose was to detect differences in the soil properties as a consequence of land cover/land uses.

The SN 393-SNR RX J1713.7-3946 (G347.3-0.5) Connection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fesen, Robert A.; Kremer, Richard; Patnaude, Daniel; Milisavljevic, Dan

2012-02-01

Although the connection of the Chinese "guest" star of 393 AD with the Galactic supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946 (G347.3-0.5) made by Wang et al. in 1997 is consistent with the remnant's relatively young properties and the guest star's projected position within the "tail" of the constellation Scorpius, there are difficulties with such an association. The brief Chinese texts concerning the 393 AD guest star make no comment about its apparent brightness, stating only that it disappeared after eight months. However, at the remnant's current estimated 1-1.3 kpc distance and A V ~= 3, its supernova (SN) should have been a visually bright object at maximum light (-3.5 to -5.0 mag) if MV = - 17 to -18 and would have remained visible for over a year. The peak brightness sime0 mag adopted by Wang et al. and others would require the RX J1713.7-3946 supernova to have been a very subluminous event similar to or fainter than SN 2005cs in M51. We also note problems connecting SN 393 with a European record in which the Roman poet Claudian describes a visually brilliant star in the heavens around 393 AD that could be readily seen even in midday. Although several authors have suggested this account may be a reference to the Chinese supernova of 393, Scorpius would not be visible near midday in March when the Chinese first reported the 393 guest star. We review both the Chinese and Roman accounts and calculate probable visual brightnesses for a range of SN subtypes and conclude that neither the Chinese nor the Roman descriptions are easily reconciled with an expected RX J1713.7-3946 supernova brightness and duration.

Ophiuchus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murdin, P.

2000-11-01

(the Serpent-bearer; abbrev. Oph, gen. Ophiuchi; area 948 sq. deg.) An equatorial constellation which lies between Hercules and Scorpius, and culminates at midnight in mid-June. The ecliptic cuts across the southern part of Ophiuchus, but the constellation is not included among the constellations of the zodiac. Ophiuchus is usually said to represent Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, and is sh...

Directional Limits on Persistent Gravitational Waves from Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Ananyeva, A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Appert, S.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Avila-Alvarez, A.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Beer, C.; Bejger, M.; Belahcene, I.; Belgin, M.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Billman, C. R.; Birch, J.; Birney, R.; Birnholtz, O.; Biscans, S.; Biscoveanu, A. S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blackman, J.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, S.; Bock, O.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, G.; Bohe, A.; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, D. A.; Brown, D. D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Calderón Bustillo, J.; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Campbell, W.; Canepa, M.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, H.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Casanueva Diaz, J.; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglià, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Cerboni Baiardi, L.; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, H.-P.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Chmiel, T.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, A. J. K.; Chua, S.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Cocchieri, C.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P.-F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M.; Conti, L.; Cooper, S. J.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, E.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J.-P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Covas, P. B.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Creighton, T. D.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cullen, T. J.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Dasgupta, A.; Da Silva Costa, C. F.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Davis, D.; Daw, E. J.; Day, B.; Day, R.; De, S.; DeBra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De Laurentis, M.; Deléglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.; De Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devenson, J.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Díaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Giovanni, M.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Doctor, Z.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Dorrington, I.; Douglas, R.; Dovale Álvarez, M.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H.-B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Essick, R. C.; Etienne, Z.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Fauchon-Jones, E. J.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Fernández Galiana, A.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M.; Fong, H.; Forsyth, S. S.; Fournier, J.-D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fries, E. M.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H.; Gadre, B. U.; Gaebel, S. M.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gaur, G.; Gayathri, V.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghonge, S.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; González, G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C.-J.; Haughian, K.; Healy, J.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J.-M.; Isi, M.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jiménez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W. W.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Junker, J.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kéfélian, F.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kennedy, R.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J. C.; Kim, Whansun; Kim, W.; Kim, Y.-M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kirchhoff, R.; Kissel, J. S.; Klein, B.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koch, P.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Krämer, C.; Kringel, V.; Królak, A.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lang, R. N.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lanza, R. K.; Lartaux-Vollard, A.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, H. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, K.; Lehmann, J.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Liu, J.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Lombardi, A. L.; London, L. T.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lousto, C. O.; Lovelace, G.; Lück, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Macfoy, S.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magaña-Sandoval, F.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Márka, S.; Márka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matas, A.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGrath, C.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mendoza-Gandara, D.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A.; Miller, B. B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B. C.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Muniz, E. A. M.; Murray, P. G.; Mytidis, A.; Napier, K.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Neri, M.; Nery, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newport, J. M.; Newton, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Noack, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pace, A. E.; Page, J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perez, C. J.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poe, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Pratt, J. W. W.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Pürrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Rhoades, E.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, J. D.; Romano, R.; Romie, J. H.; Rosińska, D.; Rowan, S.; Rüdiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.; Sachdev, S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sampson, L. M.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Scheuer, J.; Schlassa, S.; Schmidt, E.; Schmidt, J.; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schönbeck, A.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Schwalbe, S. G.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Setyawati, Y.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, A. D.; Singer, A.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, B.; Smith, J. R.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Spencer, A. P.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stevenson, S. P.; Stone, R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepańczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tao, D.; Tápai, M.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, R.; Theeg, T.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thrane, E.; Tippens, T.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torrie, C. I.; Töyrä, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifirò, D.; Trinastic, J.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Tso, R.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Varma, V.; Vass, S.; Vasúth, M.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Venugopalan, G.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Viets, A. D.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, M.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Watchi, J.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L.-W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.; Weßels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Whittle, C.; Williams, D.; Williams, R. D.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Worden, J.; Wright, J. L.; Wu, D. S.; Wu, G.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, Hang; Yu, Haocun; Yvert, M.; ZadroŻny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J.-P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, T.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, S. J.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zweizig, J.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration; Virgo Collaboration

2017-03-01

We employ gravitational-wave radiometry to map the stochastic gravitational wave background expected from a variety of contributing mechanisms and test the assumption of isotropy using data from the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory's (aLIGO) first observing run. We also search for persistent gravitational waves from point sources with only minimal assumptions over the 20-1726 Hz frequency band. Finding no evidence of gravitational waves from either point sources or a stochastic background, we set limits at 90% confidence. For broadband point sources, we report upper limits on the gravitational wave energy flux per unit frequency in the range Fα ,Θ(f )<(0.1 - 56 )×10-8 erg cm-2 s-1 Hz-1(f /25 Hz )α -1 depending on the sky location Θ and the spectral power index α . For extended sources, we report upper limits on the fractional gravitational wave energy density required to close the Universe of Ω (f ,Θ )<(0.39 - 7.6 )×10-8 sr-1(f /25 Hz )α depending on Θ and α . Directed searches for narrowband gravitational waves from astrophysically interesting objects (Scorpius X-1, Supernova 1987 A, and the Galactic Center) yield median frequency-dependent limits on strain amplitude of h0<(6.7 ,5.5 , and 7.0 )×10-25 , respectively, at the most sensitive detector frequencies between 130-175 Hz. This represents a mean improvement of a factor of 2 across the band compared to previous searches of this kind for these sky locations, considering the different quantities of strain constrained in each case.

Ara

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murdin, P.

2000-11-01

(the Altar; abbrev. Ara, gen. Arae; area 237 sq. deg.) A southern constellation that lies between Scorpius and Apus, and culminates at midnight in early June. It is said to represent the altar upon which in Greek mythology the gods swore allegiance before their battle against the Titans, and that upon which Chiron, the centaur, is about to sacrifice Lupus, the wolf (which was a neighboring conste...

Biochemical indicators of pollution exposure in shorthorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius), caught in four harbours on the southwest coast of Iceland.

PubMed

Stephensen; Svavarsson; Sturve; Ericson; Adolfsson-Erici; Förlin

2000-04-01

Shorthorn sculpins (Myoxocephalus scorpius) were caught in four Icelandic harbours, differing in size, use and traffic. Biochemical responses in liver were measured and chemicals analysed in bile. Eyrarbakki harbour, which has not been in use for many years was chosen as a control site. Njar partial differentialvík harbour is a small fishing harbour and a marina, Sandger partial differentiali harbour is a large fishing harbour, and Reykjavík harbour is a large fishing harbour and an international transport harbour. Higher levels of DNA-adducts and cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) in the fish from the harbours in Sandger partial differentiali, Njar partial differentialvík and Reykjavík, compared to Eyrarbakki harbour, indicate PAH exposure. This was confirmed by PAH analysis in bile. The higher activities of the antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR) in fish caught in Sandger partial differentiali, than in fish caught in the other harbours, indicate exposure of sculpin to prooxidative compounds in Sandger partial differentiali harbour. Shorthorn sculpin seems to be a convenient species for monitoring pollution in northern coastal areas.

A Multi-Year Light Curve of Scorpius X-1 Based on CGRO BATSE Spectroscopy Detector Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McNamara, B. J.; Harrison, T. E.; Mason, P. A.; Templeton, M.; Heikkila, C. W.; Buckley, T.; Galvan, E.; Silva, A.; Harmon, B. A.

1998-01-01

A multi-year light curve of the low mass X-ray binary, Scorpius X-1, is constructed based on the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory (CGRO) Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) Spectroscopy Detector (SD) data in the nominal energy range of 10-20 keV. A detailed discussion is given of the reduction process of the BATSE/SD data. Corrections to the SD measurements are made for off-axis pointings, spectral and bandpass changes, and differences in the eight SD sensitivities. The resulting 4.4 year Sco X-1 SD light curve is characterized in terms of the time scales over which various types of emission changes occur. This light curve is then compared with Sco X-1 light curves obtained by Axiel 5, the BATSE Large Area Detectors (LADs), and the RXTE all-sky monitor (ASM). Coincident temporal coverage by the BATSE/SD and RXTE/ASM allows a direct comparison of the behavior of Sco X-1 over a range of high energies to be made. These ASM light curves are then used to discuss model constraints on the Sco X-1 system.

The Exoplant Migration Timescale from K2 Young Clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rizzuto, Aaron C.; Mann, Andrew; Kraus, Adam L.; Ireland, Michael

2017-01-01

Planetary Migration models for close-in exoplanets(a < 0.1 AU, P < 20 days) can be loosely divided into three categories: Disk-driven migration, binary-star planet interaction, and planet-planet interaction. Disk migration, occurs over the lifetime of the protoplanetary disk (<5 Myr), while migration involving dynamical multi-body interactions operate on timescales of ~100’s of Myr to ~1Gyr, a lengthier process than disk migration. It is unclear which of these is the dominating mechanism.The K2 mission has measured planet formation timescales and migration pathways by sampling groups of stars at key pre-main-sequence ages: Over the past 10 campaigns, multiple groups of young stars have been observed by K2, ranging from the 10 Myr Upper Scorpius OB association, through the ˜120 Myr Pleiades, the ˜600-800 Myr Hyades and Praesepe moving groups, to the original Kepler Field. The frequency, orbital and compositional properties of the exoplanet population in these samples of different age, with careful treatment of detection completeness, will be sufficient to address the question of exoplanet migration as their host stars are settling onto the main sequence.We will present the initial results of a program to directly address the question of planet migration with a uniform injection-recovery tests on a new K2 detrending pipeline that is optimized for the particular case of young, rotationally variable stars in K2 to robustly measure the detectability of planets of differing size and orbit. Initial results point towards a migration timescale of 200-700 Myr, which is consistent with the slower planet-planet scattering or Kozai migration models.

A Search for Pulsation in Young Brown Dwarfs and Very Low Mass Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cody, Ann Marie

2012-05-01

In 2005, Palla and Baraffe proposed that brown dwarfs and very low mass stars (<0.1 solar masses) may be unstable to radial oscillations during the pre-main-sequence deuterium burning phase. With associated oscillation periods of 1--4 hours, this potentially new class of pulsation offers unprecedented opportunities to probe the interiors and evolution of low-mass objects in the 1--15 million year age range. Furthermore, several previous reports of short-period variability have suggested that deuterium-burning pulsation is in fact at work in young clusters. For my dissertation, I developed a photometric monitoring campaign to search for low-amplitude periodic variability in young brown dwarfs and very low mass stars using meter-class telescopes from both the ground and space. The resulting high-precision, high-cadence time-series photometry targeted four young clusters and achieved sensitivity to periodic oscillations with photometric amplitudes down to several millimagnitudes. This unprecedented variability census probed timescales ranging from minutes to weeks in a sample of 200 young, low-mass cluster members of IC 348, Sigma Orionis, Chamaeleon I, and Upper Scorpius. While I find a dearth of photometric periods under 10 hours, the campaign's high time resolution and precision have enabled detailed study of diverse light curve behavior in the clusters: rotational spot modulation, accretion signatures, and occultations by surrounding disk material. Analysis of the data has led to the establishment of a lower limit for the timescale of periodic photometric variability in young low-mass and substellar objects, an extension of the rotation period distribution to the brown dwarf regime, as well as insights into the connection between variability and circumstellar disks in the Sigma Orionis and Chamaeleon I clusters.

A Pan-STARRS1 Proper-Motion Survey for Young Brown Dwarfs in the Nearest Star-Forming Regions and a Reddening-Free Classification Method for Ultracool Dwarfs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhoujian; Liu, Michael C.; Best, William M. J.; Magnier, Eugene; Aller, Kimberly

2018-01-01

Young brown dwarfs are of prime importance to investigate the universality of the initial mass function (IMF). Based on photometry and proper motions from the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) 3π survey, we are conducting the widest and deepest brown dwarf survey in the nearby star-forming regions, Taurus–Auriga (Taurus) and Upper Scorpius (USco). Our work is the first to measure proper motions, a robust proxy of membership, for brown dwarf candidates in Taurus and USco over such a large area and long time baseline (≈ 15 year) with such high precision (≈ 4 mas yr-1). Since extinction complicates spectral classification, we have developed a new approach to quantitatively determine reddening-free spectral types, extinctions, and gravity classifications for mid-M to late-L ultracool dwarfs (≈ 100–5 MJup), using low-resolution near-infrared spectra. So far, our IRTF/SpeX spectroscopic follow-up has increased the substellar and planetary-mass census of Taurus by ≈ 50% and almost doubled the substellar census of USco, constituting the largest single increases of brown dwarfs and free-floating planets found in both regions to date. Most notably, our new discoveries reveal an older (> 10 Myr) low-mass population in Taurus, in accord with recent studies of the higher-mass stellar members. In addition, the mass function appears to differ between the younger and older Taurus populations, possibly due to incompleteness of the older stellar members or different star formation processes. Upon completion, our survey will establish the most complete substellar and planetary-mass census in both Taurus and USco associations, make a significant addition to the low-mass IMF in both regions, and deliver more comprehensive pictures of star formation histories.

DYNAMICAL MEASUREMENTS OF THE YOUNG UPPER SCORPIUS TRIPLE NTTS 155808-2219

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mace, G. N.; McLean, I. S.; Prato, L.

2012-08-15

The young, low-mass, triple system NTTS 155808-2219 (ScoPMS 20) was previously identified as a {approx}17 day period single-lined spectroscopic binary (SB) with a tertiary component at 0.21 arcsec. Using high-resolution infrared spectra, acquired with NIRSPEC on Keck II, both with and without adaptive optics (AO), we measured radial velocities (RVs) of all three components. Reanalysis of the single-lined visible light observations, made from 1987 to 1993, also yielded RV detections of the three stars. Combining visible light and infrared data to compute the orbital solution produces orbital parameters consistent with the single-lined solution and a mass ratio of q =more » 0.78 {+-} 0.01 for the SB. We discuss the consistency between our results and previously published data on this system, our RV analysis with both observed and synthetic templates, and the possibility that this system is eclipsing, providing a potential method for the determination of the stars' absolute masses. Over the {approx}20 year baseline of our observations, we have measured the acceleration of the SB's center of mass in its orbit with the tertiary. Long-term, AO imaging of the tertiary will eventually yield dynamical data useful for component mass estimates.« less

Directional Limits on Persistent Gravitational Waves from Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run.

PubMed

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Cheeseboro, B D; Chen, H Y; Chen, Y; Cheng, H-P; Chincarini, A; Chiummo, A; Chmiel, T; Cho, H S; Cho, M; Chow, J H; Christensen, N; Chu, Q; Chua, A J K; Chua, S; Chung, S; Ciani, G; Clara, F; Clark, J A; Cleva, F; Cocchieri, C; Coccia, E; Cohadon, P-F; Colla, A; Collette, C G; Cominsky, L; Constancio, M; Conti, L; Cooper, S J; Corbitt, T R; Cornish, N; Corsi, A; Cortese, S; Costa, C A; Coughlin, E; Coughlin, M W; Coughlin, S B; Coulon, J-P; Countryman, S T; Couvares, P; Covas, P B; Cowan, E E; Coward, D M; Cowart, M J; Coyne, D C; Coyne, R; Creighton, J D E; Creighton, T D; Cripe, J; Crowder, S G; Cullen, T J; Cumming, A; Cunningham, L; Cuoco, E; Dal Canton, T; Danilishin, S L; D'Antonio, S; Danzmann, K; Dasgupta, A; Da Silva Costa, C F; Dattilo, V; Dave, I; Davier, M; Davies, G S; Davis, D; Daw, E J; Day, B; Day, R; De, S; DeBra, D; Debreczeni, G; Degallaix, J; De Laurentis, M; Deléglise, S; Del Pozzo, W; Denker, T; Dent, T; Dergachev, V; De Rosa, R; DeRosa, R T; DeSalvo, R; Devenson, J; Devine, R C; Dhurandhar, S; Díaz, M C; Di Fiore, L; Di Giovanni, M; Di Girolamo, T; Di Lieto, A; Di Pace, S; Di Palma, I; Di Virgilio, A; Doctor, Z; Dolique, V; Donovan, F; Dooley, K L; Doravari, S; Dorrington, I; Douglas, R; Dovale Álvarez, M; Downes, T P; Drago, M; Drever, R W P; Driggers, J C; Du, Z; Ducrot, M; Dwyer, S E; Edo, T B; Edwards, M C; Effler, A; Eggenstein, H-B; Ehrens, P; Eichholz, J; Eikenberry, S S; Essick, R C; Etienne, Z; Etzel, T; Evans, M; Evans, T M; Everett, R; Factourovich, M; Fafone, V; Fair, H; Fairhurst, S; Fan, X; Farinon, S; Farr, B; Farr, W M; Fauchon-Jones, E J; Favata, M; Fays, M; Fehrmann, H; Fejer, M M; Fernández Galiana, A; Ferrante, I; Ferreira, E C; Ferrini, F; Fidecaro, F; Fiori, I; Fiorucci, D; Fisher, R P; Flaminio, R; Fletcher, M; Fong, H; Forsyth, S S; Fournier, J-D; Frasca, S; Frasconi, F; Frei, Z; Freise, A; Frey, R; Frey, V; Fries, E M; Fritschel, P; Frolov, V V; Fulda, P; Fyffe, M; Gabbard, H; Gadre, B U; Gaebel, S M; Gair, J R; Gammaitoni, L; Gaonkar, S G; Garufi, F; Gaur, G; Gayathri, V; Gehrels, N; Gemme, G; Genin, E; Gennai, A; George, J; Gergely, L; Germain, V; Ghonge, S; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S; Giaime, J A; Giardina, K D; Giazotto, A; Gill, K; Glaefke, A; Goetz, E; Goetz, R; Gondan, L; González, G; Gonzalez Castro, J M; Gopakumar, A; Gorodetsky, M L; Gossan, S E; Gosselin, M; Gouaty, R; Grado, A; Graef, C; Granata, M; Grant, A; Gras, S; Gray, C; Greco, G; Green, A C; Groot, P; Grote, H; Grunewald, S; Guidi, G M; Guo, X; Gupta, A; Gupta, M K; Gushwa, K E; Gustafson, E K; Gustafson, R; Hacker, J J; Hall, B R; Hall, E D; Hammond, G; Haney, M; Hanke, M M; Hanks, J; Hanna, C; Hannam, M D; Hanson, J; Hardwick, T; Harms, J; Harry, G M; Harry, I W; Hart, M J; Hartman, M T; Haster, C-J; Haughian, K; Healy, J; Heidmann, A; Heintze, M C; Heitmann, H; Hello, P; Hemming, G; Hendry, M; Heng, I S; Hennig, J; Henry, J; Heptonstall, A W; Heurs, M; Hild, S; Hoak, D; Hofman, D; Holt, K; Holz, D E; Hopkins, P; Hough, J; Houston, E A; Howell, E J; Hu, Y M; Huerta, E A; Huet, D; Hughey, B; Husa, S; Huttner, S H; Huynh-Dinh, T; Indik, N; Ingram, D R; Inta, R; Isa, H N; Isac, J-M; Isi, M; Isogai, T; Iyer, B R; Izumi, K; Jacqmin, T; Jani, K; Jaranowski, P; Jawahar, S; Jiménez-Forteza, F; Johnson, W W; Jones, D I; Jones, R; Jonker, R J G; Ju, L; Junker, J; Kalaghatgi, C V; Kalogera, V; Kandhasamy, S; Kang, G; Kanner, J B; Karki, S; Karvinen, K S; Kasprzack, M; Katsavounidis, E; Katzman, W; Kaufer, S; Kaur, T; Kawabe, K; Kéfélian, F; Keitel, D; Kelley, D B; Kennedy, R; Key, J S; Khalili, F Y; Khan, I; Khan, S; Khan, Z; Khazanov, E A; Kijbunchoo, N; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J C; Kim, Whansun; Kim, W; Kim, Y-M; Kimbrell, S J; King, E J; King, P J; Kirchhoff, R; Kissel, J S; Klein, B; Kleybolte, L; Klimenko, S; Koch, P; Koehlenbeck, S M; Koley, S; Kondrashov, V; Kontos, A; Korobko, M; Korth, W Z; Kowalska, I; Kozak, D B; Krämer, C; Kringel, V; Królak, A; Kuehn, G; Kumar, P; Kumar, R; Kuo, L; Kutynia, A; Lackey, B D; Landry, M; Lang, R N; Lange, J; Lantz, B; Lanza, R K; Lartaux-Vollard, A; Lasky, P D; Laxen, M; Lazzarini, A; Lazzaro, C; Leaci, P; Leavey, S; Lebigot, E O; Lee, C H; Lee, H K; Lee, H M; Lee, K; Lehmann, J; Lenon, A; Leonardi, M; Leong, J R; Leroy, N; Letendre, N; Levin, Y; Li, T G F; Libson, A; Littenberg, T B; Liu, J; Lockerbie, N A; Lombardi, A L; London, L T; Lord, J E; Lorenzini, M; Loriette, V; Lormand, M; Losurdo, G; Lough, J D; Lousto, C O; Lovelace, G; Lück, H; Lundgren, A P; Lynch, R; Ma, Y; Macfoy, S; Machenschalk, B; MacInnis, M; Macleod, D M; Magaña-Sandoval, F; Majorana, E; Maksimovic, I; Malvezzi, V; Man, N; Mandic, V; Mangano, V; Mansell, G L; Manske, M; Mantovani, M; Marchesoni, F; Marion, F; Márka, S; Márka, Z; Markosyan, A S; Maros, E; Martelli, F; Martellini, L; Martin, I W; Martynov, D V; Mason, K; Masserot, A; Massinger, T J; Masso-Reid, M; Mastrogiovanni, S; Matas, A; Matichard, F; Matone, L; Mavalvala, N; Mazumder, N; McCarthy, R; McClelland, D E; McCormick, S; McGrath, C; McGuire, S C; McIntyre, G; McIver, J; McManus, D J; McRae, T; McWilliams, S T; Meacher, D; Meadors, G D; Meidam, J; Melatos, A; Mendell, G; Mendoza-Gandara, D; Mercer, R A; Merilh, E L; Merzougui, M; Meshkov, S; Messenger, C; Messick, C; Metzdorff, R; Meyers, P M; Mezzani, F; Miao, H; Michel, C; Middleton, H; Mikhailov, E E; Milano, L; Miller, A L; Miller, A; Miller, B B; Miller, J; Millhouse, M; Minenkov, Y; Ming, J; Mirshekari, S; Mishra, C; Mitra, S; Mitrofanov, V P; Mitselmakher, G; Mittleman, R; Moggi, A; Mohan, M; Mohapatra, S R P; Montani, M; Moore, B C; Moore, C J; Moraru, D; Moreno, G; Morriss, S R; Mours, B; Mow-Lowry, C M; Mueller, G; Muir, A W; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D; Mukherjee, S; Mukund, N; Mullavey, A; Munch, J; Muniz, E A M; Murray, P G; Mytidis, A; Napier, K; Nardecchia, I; Naticchioni, L; Nelemans, G; Nelson, T J N; Neri, M; Nery, M; Neunzert, A; Newport, J M; Newton, G; Nguyen, T T; Nielsen, A B; Nissanke, S; Nitz, A; Noack, A; Nocera, F; Nolting, D; Normandin, M E N; Nuttall, L K; Oberling, J; Ochsner, E; Oelker, E; Ogin, G H; Oh, J J; Oh, S H; Ohme, F; Oliver, M; Oppermann, P; Oram, Richard J; O'Reilly, B; O'Shaughnessy, R; Ottaway, D J; Overmier, H; Owen, B J; Pace, A E; Page, J; Pai, A; Pai, S A; Palamos, J R; Palashov, O; Palomba, C; Pal-Singh, A; Pan, H; Pankow, C; Pannarale, F; Pant, B C; Paoletti, F; Paoli, A; Papa, M A; Paris, H R; Parker, W; Pascucci, D; Pasqualetti, A; Passaquieti, R; Passuello, D; Patricelli, B; Pearlstone, B L; Pedraza, M; Pedurand, R; Pekowsky, L; Pele, A; Penn, S; Perez, C J; Perreca, A; Perri, L M; Pfeiffer, H P; Phelps, M; Piccinni, O J; Pichot, M; Piergiovanni, F; Pierro, V; Pillant, G; Pinard, L; Pinto, I M; Pitkin, M; Poe, M; Poggiani, R; Popolizio, P; Post, A; Powell, J; Prasad, J; Pratt, J W W; Predoi, V; Prestegard, T; Prijatelj, M; Principe, M; Privitera, S; Prodi, G A; Prokhorov, L G; Puncken, O; Punturo, M; Puppo, P; Pürrer, M; Qi, H; Qin, J; Qiu, S; Quetschke, V; Quintero, E A; Quitzow-James, R; Raab, F J; Rabeling, D S; Radkins, H; Raffai, P; Raja, S; Rajan, C; Rakhmanov, M; Rapagnani, P; Raymond, V; Razzano, M; Re, V; Read, J; Regimbau, T; Rei, L; Reid, S; Reitze, D H; Rew, H; Reyes, S D; Rhoades, E; Ricci, F; Riles, K; Rizzo, M; Robertson, N A; Robie, R; Robinet, F; Rocchi, A; Rolland, L; Rollins, J G; Roma, V J; Romano, J D; Romano, R; Romie, J H; Rosińska, D; Rowan, S; Rüdiger, A; Ruggi, P; Ryan, K; Sachdev, S; Sadecki, T; Sadeghian, L; Sakellariadou, M; Salconi, L; Saleem, M; Salemi, F; Samajdar, A; Sammut, L; Sampson, L M; Sanchez, E J; Sandberg, V; Sanders, J R; Sassolas, B; Sathyaprakash, B S; Saulson, P R; Sauter, O; Savage, R L; Sawadsky, A; Schale, P; Scheuer, J; Schlassa, S; Schmidt, E; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P; Schnabel, R; Schofield, R M S; Schönbeck, A; Schreiber, E; Schuette, D; Schutz, B F; Schwalbe, S G; Scott, J; Scott, S M; Sellers, D; Sengupta, A S; Sentenac, D; Sequino, V; Sergeev, A; Setyawati, Y; Shaddock, D A; Shaffer, T J; Shahriar, M S; Shapiro, B; Shawhan, P; Sheperd, A; Shoemaker, D H; Shoemaker, D M; Siellez, K; Siemens, X; Sieniawska, M; Sigg, D; Silva, A D; Singer, A; Singer, L P; Singh, A; Singh, R; Singhal, A; Sintes, A M; Slagmolen, B J J; Smith, B; Smith, J R; Smith, R J E; Son, E J; Sorazu, B; Sorrentino, F; Souradeep, T; Spencer, A P; Srivastava, A K; Staley, A; Steinke, M; Steinlechner, J; Steinlechner, S; Steinmeyer, D; Stephens, B C; Stevenson, S P; Stone, R; Strain, K A; Straniero, N; Stratta, G; Strigin, S E; Sturani, R; Stuver, A L; Summerscales, T Z; Sun, L; Sunil, S; Sutton, P J; Swinkels, B L; Szczepańczyk, M J; Tacca, M; Talukder, D; Tanner, D B; Tao, D; Tápai, M; Taracchini, A; Taylor, R; Theeg, T; Thomas, E G; Thomas, M; Thomas, P; Thorne, K A; Thrane, E; Tippens, T; Tiwari, S; Tiwari, V; Tokmakov, K V; Toland, K; Tomlinson, C; Tonelli, M; Tornasi, Z; Torrie, C I; Töyrä, D; Travasso, F; Traylor, G; Trifirò, D; Trinastic, J; Tringali, M C; Trozzo, L; Tse, M; Tso, R; Turconi, M; Tuyenbayev, D; Ugolini, D; Unnikrishnan, C S; Urban, A L; Usman, S A; Vahlbruch, H; Vajente, G; Valdes, G; van Bakel, N; van Beuzekom, M; van den Brand, J F J; Van Den Broeck, C; Vander-Hyde, D C; van der Schaaf, L; van Heijningen, J V; van Veggel, A A; Vardaro, M; Varma, V; Vass, S; Vasúth, M; Vecchio, A; Vedovato, G; Veitch, J; Veitch, P J; Venkateswara, K; Venugopalan, G; Verkindt, D; Vetrano, F; Viceré, A; Viets, A D; Vinciguerra, S; Vine, D J; Vinet, J-Y; Vitale, S; Vo, T; Vocca, H; Vorvick, C; Voss, D V; Vousden, W D; Vyatchanin, S P; Wade, A R; Wade, L E; Wade, M; Walker, M; Wallace, L; Walsh, S; Wang, G; Wang, H; Wang, M; Wang, Y; Ward, R L; Warner, J; Was, M; Watchi, J; Weaver, B; Wei, L-W; Weinert, M; Weinstein, A J; Weiss, R; Wen, L; Weßels, P; Westphal, T; Wette, K; Whelan, J T; Whiting, B F; Whittle, C; Williams, D; Williams, R D; Williamson, A R; Willis, J L; Willke, B; Wimmer, M H; Winkler, W; Wipf, C C; Wittel, H; Woan, G; Woehler, J; Worden, J; Wright, J L; Wu, D S; Wu, G; Yam, W; Yamamoto, H; Yancey, C C; Yap, M J; Yu, Hang; Yu, Haocun; Yvert, M; Zadrożny, A; Zangrando, L; Zanolin, M; Zendri, J-P; Zevin, M; Zhang, L; Zhang, M; Zhang, T; Zhang, Y; Zhao, C; Zhou, M; Zhou, Z; Zhu, S J; Zhu, X J; Zucker, M E; Zweizig, J

2017-03-24

We employ gravitational-wave radiometry to map the stochastic gravitational wave background expected from a variety of contributing mechanisms and test the assumption of isotropy using data from the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory's (aLIGO) first observing run. We also search for persistent gravitational waves from point sources with only minimal assumptions over the 20-1726 Hz frequency band. Finding no evidence of gravitational waves from either point sources or a stochastic background, we set limits at 90% confidence. For broadband point sources, we report upper limits on the gravitational wave energy flux per unit frequency in the range F_{α,Θ}(f)<(0.1-56)×10^{-8}    erg cm^{-2} s^{-1} Hz^{-1}(f/25  Hz)^{α-1} depending on the sky location Θ and the spectral power index α. For extended sources, we report upper limits on the fractional gravitational wave energy density required to close the Universe of Ω(f,Θ)<(0.39-7.6)×10^{-8}  sr^{-1}(f/25  Hz)^{α} depending on Θ and α. Directed searches for narrowband gravitational waves from astrophysically interesting objects (Scorpius X-1, Supernova 1987 A, and the Galactic Center) yield median frequency-dependent limits on strain amplitude of h_{0}<(6.7,5.5,  and  7.0)×10^{-25}, respectively, at the most sensitive detector frequencies between 130-175 Hz. This represents a mean improvement of a factor of 2 across the band compared to previous searches of this kind for these sky locations, considering the different quantities of strain constrained in each case.

IDENTIFYING NEARBY, YOUNG, LATE-TYPE STARS BY MEANS OF THEIR CIRCUMSTELLAR DISKS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schneider, Adam; Song, Inseok; Melis, Carl

2012-10-01

It has recently been shown that a significant fraction of late-type members of nearby, very young associations (age {approx}<10 Myr) display excess emission at mid-IR wavelengths indicative of dusty circumstellar disks. We demonstrate that the detection of mid-IR excess emission can be utilized to identify new nearby, young, late-type stars including two definite new members ('TWA 33' and 'TWA 34') of the TW Hydrae Association (TWA). Both new TWA members display mid-IR excess emission in the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer catalog and they show proper motion and youthful spectroscopic characteristics-namely, H{alpha} emission, strong lithium absorption, and low surface gravity featuresmore » consistent with known TWA members. We also detect mid-IR excess-the first unambiguous evidence of a dusty circumstellar disk-around a previously identified UV-bright, young, accreting star (2M1337) that is a likely member of the Lower-Centaurus Crux region of the Scorpius-Centaurus Complex.« less

A MULTIPLICITY CENSUS OF INTERMEDIATE-MASS STARS IN SCORPIUS-CENTAURUS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Janson, Markus; Lafreniere, David; Jayawardhana, Ray

2013-08-20

Stellar multiplicity properties have been studied for the lowest and the highest stellar masses, but intermediate-mass stars from F-type to late A-type have received relatively little attention. Here, we report on a Gemini/NICI snapshot imaging survey of 138 such stars in the young Scorpius-Centaurus (Sco-Cen) region, for the purpose of studying multiplicity with sensitivity down to planetary masses at wide separations. In addition to two brown dwarfs and a companion straddling the hydrogen-burning limit which we reported previously, here we present 26 new stellar companions and determine a multiplicity fraction within 0.''1-5.''0 of 21% {+-} 4%. Depending on the adoptedmore » semimajor axis distribution, our results imply a total multiplicity in the range of {approx}60%-80%, which further supports the known trend of a smooth continuous increase in the multiplicity fraction as a function of primary stellar mass. A surprising feature in the sample is a distinct lack of nearly equal-mass binaries, for which we discuss possible reasons. The survey yielded no additional companions below or near the deuterium-burning limit, implying that their frequency at >200 AU separations is not quite as high as might be inferred from previous detections of such objects within the Sco-Cen region.« less

THE SN 393-SNR RX J1713.7-3946 (G347.3-0.5) CONNECTION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fesen, Robert A.; Milisavljevic, Dan; Kremer, Richard

Although the connection of the Chinese 'guest' star of 393 AD with the Galactic supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946 (G347.3-0.5) made by Wang et al. in 1997 is consistent with the remnant's relatively young properties and the guest star's projected position within the 'tail' of the constellation Scorpius, there are difficulties with such an association. The brief Chinese texts concerning the 393 AD guest star make no comment about its apparent brightness, stating only that it disappeared after eight months. However, at the remnant's current estimated 1-1.3 kpc distance and A{sub V} {approx_equal} 3, its supernova (SN) should have been amore » visually bright object at maximum light (-3.5 to -5.0 mag) if M{sub V} = - 17 to -18 and would have remained visible for over a year. The peak brightness {approx_equal}0 mag adopted by Wang et al. and others would require the RX J1713.7-3946 supernova to have been a very subluminous event similar to or fainter than SN 2005cs in M51. We also note problems connecting SN 393 with a European record in which the Roman poet Claudian describes a visually brilliant star in the heavens around 393 AD that could be readily seen even in midday. Although several authors have suggested this account may be a reference to the Chinese supernova of 393, Scorpius would not be visible near midday in March when the Chinese first reported the 393 guest star. We review both the Chinese and Roman accounts and calculate probable visual brightnesses for a range of SN subtypes and conclude that neither the Chinese nor the Roman descriptions are easily reconciled with an expected RX J1713.7-3946 supernova brightness and duration.« less

Subaru Imaging of Asymmetric Features in a Transitional Disk in Upper Scorpius

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mayama, S.; Hashimoto, J.; Muto, T.; Tsukagoshi, T.; Kusakabe, N.; Kuzuhara, M.; Takahashi, Y.; Kudo, T.; Dong, R.; Fukagawa, M.;

Subaru Imaging of Asymmetric Features in a Transitional Disk in a Transitional Disk in Upper Scorpius

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mayama, S.; Hashimoto, J.; Muto, T.; Tsukagoshi, T.; Kusakabe, N.; Kuzuhara, M.; Takahashi, Y.; Kudo, T.; Dong, R.; Fukagawa, M.;

Zodical Exoplanets in Time: Are These Worlds Flat?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mann, Andrew; Rizzuto, Aaron; Newton, Elisabeth; Gaidos, Eric; Kraus, Adam; Dalba, Paul

2016-08-01

Over the past decade, Spitzer has helped to revolutionize our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres. By extending the reach of transmission spectroscopy (change in transit depth with wavelength) past 3 microns, Spitzer has provided unique constraints on the composition of the atmospheres of transiting planets. Such studies of super-Earth and Neptune size planets with both the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer have generally found featureless atmospheres, consistent with high clouds or a haze layer. This finding motivates more questions; how and when do these atmospheres form, how do they sustain themselves, and how long do they persist? Some answers could be found by comparing the atmospheres of similar planets with a range of ages from infancy (0-20 Myr) to adolescence (100-1000 Myr) to maturity (more than 1 Gyr). The mature part of this comparison is starting to become complete with many older super-Earth to Neptune size systems undergoing detailed study. However, even among the known young and adolescent systems, few were known to transit and none were amenable to transmission spectroscopy. Observations of young stars by the K2 mission has changed the landscape. From this data our team has identified and confirmed two transiting planets that will promote studies of exoplanet evolution. The first, K2-25b, orbits an M4.5 in the Hyades cluster (650 Myr), and the second, K2-33b, orbits an M3.5 pre-main sequence star in the Upper Scorpius OB association (11 Myr). We propose to observe 6 transits of the former and 5 of the latter with Spitzer/IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 micron bands. In combination with our K2 and ground-based data we can construct low-resolution transmission spectra of each planet in the key regions of atmospheric differentiation. This will provide the first insight into the atmospheres of young, small planets, determine when featureless atmospheres first appear, and provide constraints on the evolution of planetary atmospheres.

The multiplicity of T Tauri stars in the star forming regions Taurus-Auriga and Ophiuchus-Scorpius: A 2.2 micron speckle imaging survey

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ghez, A. M.; Neugebauer, G.; Matthews, K.

1993-01-01

We present the results of a magnitude limited (K less than = 8.5 mag) speckle imaging survey of 69 T Tauri stars in the star forming regions Taurus-Auriga and Ophiuchus-Scorpius. Thirty-three companion stars were found with separations ranging from 0.07 sec to 2.5 sec, nine are new detections. This survey reveals a distinction between the classical T Tauri stars (CTTS) and the weak-lined T Tauri stars (WTTS) based on the binary star frequency as a function of separation: the WTTS binary star distribution is enhanced at the closer separations (less than 50 AU) relative to the CTTS binary star distribution. We suggest that the nearby companion stars shorten the accretion time scale in multiple star systems, thereby accounting for the presence of WTTS that are coeval with many CTTS. The binary star frequency in the projected linear separation range 16 to 252 AU for T Tauri stars (60 (+/- 17)%) is a factor of 4 greater than that of the solar-type main-sequence stars (16(+/- 3)%). Given the limited separation range of this survey, the rate at which binaries are detected suggests that most, if not all, T Tauri stars have companions. We propose that the observed overabundance of companions of T Tauri stars is an evolutionary effect, in which triple and higher order T Tauri stars are disrupted by close encounters with another star or system of stars.

Food habits of Arctic staghorn sculpin (Gymnocanthus tricuspis) and shorthorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius) in the northeastern Chukchi and western Beaufort Seas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gray, Benjamin P.; Norcross, Brenda L.; Beaudreau, Anne H.; Blanchard, Arny L.; Seitz, Andrew C.

2017-01-01

Arctic staghorn sculpin (Gymnocanthus tricuspis) and shorthorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius) belong to Cottidae, the second most abundant fish family in the western Arctic. Although considered important in food webs, little is known about their food habits throughout this region. To address this knowledge gap, we examined and compared the diets of 515 Arctic staghorn sculpin and 422 shorthorn sculpin using stomachs collected over three summers in the northeastern Chukchi Sea (2010-2012) and one summer in the western Beaufort Sea (2011). We used permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) and non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) to compare sculpin diets between regions and selected size classes. Differences in mouth morphologies and predator size versus prey size relationships were examined using regression techniques. Arctic staghorn sculpin and shorthorn sculpin diet compositions differed greatly throughout the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Regardless of body size, the smaller-mouthed Arctic staghorn sculpin consumed mostly benthic amphipods and polychaetes, whereas the larger-mouthed shorthorn sculpin shifted from a diet composed of benthic and pelagic macroinvertebrates as smaller individuals to shrimps and fish prey as larger individuals. Within shared habitats, the sculpins appear to partition prey, either by taxa or size, in a manner that suggests no substantial overlap occurs between species. This study increases knowledge of sculpin feeding ecology in the western Arctic and offers regional, quantitative diet information that could support current and future food web modeling efforts.

World-Wide Effort Produces Dramatic "Movie" of Cosmic Jet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2001-05-01

Astronomers using a world-wide collection of radio telescopes, including the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), have made a dramatic "movie" of a voracious, superdense neutron star repeatedly spitting out subatomic particles at nearly the speed of light into two narrow jets as it pulls material from a companion star. The movie shows these jets ejecting clouds of hot plasma that are then "zapped" by pulses of energy in the jets as they move away from the neutron star. Frame from Radio-Telescope 'Movie' of Scorpius X-1 "We have directly measured the speed of energy flow in a cosmic jet for the first time," said Ed Fomalont, an astronomer at the NRAO in Charlottesville, Virginia. Fomalont worked with Barry Geldzahler and Charles Bradshaw of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. The astronomers used the VLBA, the NSF's Very Large Array (VLA) and the Green Bank 140-foot telescope, along with radio telescopes from the European VLBI Network, Australia, Japan and South Africa to record the double-star system's eruptions continuously for 56 hours. "This study is going to be extremely valuable in helping us understand a phenomenon that we see throughout the universe," Fomalont said. Cosmic jets of superfast particles are ejected from the cores of numerous galaxies. On a smaller scale, similar jets are ejected from binary-star systems closer to home, in our own Milky Way Galaxy. While the jets from galaxy cores are thought to be powered by supermassive black holes millions of times more massive than the Sun, the closer "microquasars" are powered by much smaller black holes or by neutron stars only a few times more massive than the sun. "Studying one of the closer, smaller examples will help us understand how they all work, including the bigger ones," Geldzahler said. "The jets coming from distant galaxies are harder to study because of their much greater distance and the slowness of their evolution. The changes we saw in an hour take thousands of years in the distant galaxies," he added. The astronomers observed Scorpius X-1, a system consisting of a neutron star roughly 1.5 times the mass of the sun and a "normal" star about the same mass as the sun. The two, more than 9,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius, orbit each other every 18 hours and 53 minutes. Scientific instruments aboard a brief rocket flight over New Mexico in 1962 revealed that X-rays are coming from the system, and the pair of stars has been observed extensively since then. For the latest study, whose results are published in the May 20 issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters, Fomalont, Geldzahler and Bradshaw used telescopes around the world to make highly-detailed radio images of the ejections. As the object went below the horizon for one set of radio telescopes, it was rising for the next set, allowing continuous imaging for the 56-hour period. The Very Long Baseline Array In the U.S., the astronomers used the VLBA, a network of 10 radio telescopes spread across U.S. territory from Hawaii to the Virgin Islands. They also used the European VLBI Network, including telescopes in the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands, plus a telescope in South Africa and one at the NRAO in Green Bank, WV. In addition, they used the Asia-Pacific Telescope Array which included five telescopes in Australia, plus telescopes in China, Japan and South Africa. "To keep watching this thing as the Earth turned, we had to use most of the major radio telescopes in the world, and the necessary coordination took months to organize," Fomalont said. At the same time, two optical observatories, Braeside Observatory and the Steward Observatory 90-inch telescope on Kitt Peak, and the orbiting Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer observed the object. "These observations tell us what is happening near the neutron star and the accretion disk" said Bradshaw. "All of the energy in the jet and the radio source is produced from this small region." The individual radio telescopes were combined into larger "virtual telescopes" capable of producing extremely detailed images. The "movie" of Scorpius X-1 consists of images showing detail roughly equivalent to being able to read a newspaper in Los Angeles from the distance of New York. Cosmic jets, most astronomers believe, arise when a massive object, such as a neutron star or a black hole, draws in material. Instead of being sucked directly into the massive object, the material first forms a whirling "accretion disk" that closely orbits the central object. Friction within the accretion disk can heat it to temperatures so hot that it radiates X-rays. Excess energy also is vented by ejecting subatomic particles from the poles of the disk at speeds nearly that of light. "These things are tremendous particle accelerators, propelling huge amounts of matter at fantastic speeds. Unfortunately, we don't understand the physics of how they work very well at all. That's why we're so excited to have this 'movie' of extremely detailed images to help us figure out what is really going on in this system," Geldzahler said. "Ed and I have been studying Scorpius X-1 for nearly 20 years and we finally got the resources to probe deeply into its evolution." During the 56 hours in June of 1999 when the astronomers were observing, Scorpius X-1 cooperated by being very active. The object's core, near the orbiting pair of stars, showed changes in the brightness of its radio emission. In addition, "lobes" of bright radio emission were pushed outward by the jets at about half the speed of light. These lobes, the scientists think, are produced when the fast moving particles in the jet, created from the accretion disk, collide with the surrounding interstellar material caught in the flow. Near the beginning of the movie, one moving set of lobes disappeared, but new lobes were ejected from the core a few hours later and proceeded outward. The movie also shows Einstein's relativity in action. Although two clouds are pushed by the jets in opposite directions away from the core, the cloud moving toward the Earth appears to be 15 times brighter and moving two times as fast as the cloud moving away from us. "We believe that both clouds are similar and the difference that we see is just a relativistic illusion caused by their fast motions," said Fomalont. Twice, the core flared in brightness as it shot a burst of electrons outward at more than 95 percent of light speed. As this burst reached the lobes, the collision of the fast electrons with the lobe material caused the lobes to brighten. The exquisite detail and continuous formation of the radio images allowed the scientists to directly measure the speed of the fast electrons in the beam, marking the first time ever that the speed of energy flow in such a cosmic jet has been measured. "Scorpius X-1 put on a great show for us. Now it's up to us to figure out how it performs its act," said Fomalont. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

Coordinated X-ray and optical observations of Scorpius X-1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Augusteijn, T.; Karatasos, K.; Papadakis, M.; Paterakis, G.; Kikuchi, S.; Brosch, N.; Leibowitz, E.; Hertz, P.; Mitsuda, K.; Dotani, T.

1992-01-01

We present the results of coordinated, partly simultaneous, optical and X-ray (Ginga) observations of the low-mass X-ray binary Sco X-1. We find that the division between the optically bright and faint state, at a blue magnitude B = 12.8, corresponds to the change from the normal to the flaring branch in the X-ray color-color diagram as proposed by Priedhorsky et al. (1986). From archival Walraven data we find that in both optical states the orbital light curve is approximately sinusoidal, and have a similar amplitudes.

Beam-dynamics codes used at DARHT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ekdahl, Jr., Carl August

Several beam simulation codes are used to help gain a better understanding of beam dynamics in the DARHT LIAs. The most notable of these fall into the following categories: for beam production – Tricomp Trak orbit tracking code, LSP Particle in cell (PIC) code, for beam transport and acceleration – XTR static envelope and centroid code, LAMDA time-resolved envelope and centroid code, LSP-Slice PIC code, for coasting-beam transport to target – LAMDA time-resolved envelope code, LSP-Slice PIC code. These codes are also being used to inform the design of Scorpius.

Resampling to accelerate cross-correlation searches for continuous gravitational waves from binary systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meadors, Grant David; Krishnan, Badri; Papa, Maria Alessandra; Whelan, John T.; Zhang, Yuanhao

2018-02-01

Continuous-wave (CW) gravitational waves (GWs) call for computationally-intensive methods. Low signal-to-noise ratio signals need templated searches with long coherent integration times and thus fine parameter-space resolution. Longer integration increases sensitivity. Low-mass x-ray binaries (LMXBs) such as Scorpius X-1 (Sco X-1) may emit accretion-driven CWs at strains reachable by current ground-based observatories. Binary orbital parameters induce phase modulation. This paper describes how resampling corrects binary and detector motion, yielding source-frame time series used for cross-correlation. Compared to the previous, detector-frame, templated cross-correlation method, used for Sco X-1 on data from the first Advanced LIGO observing run (O1), resampling is about 20 × faster in the costliest, most-sensitive frequency bands. Speed-up factors depend on integration time and search setup. The speed could be reinvested into longer integration with a forecast sensitivity gain, 20 to 125 Hz median, of approximately 51%, or from 20 to 250 Hz, 11%, given the same per-band cost and setup. This paper's timing model enables future setup optimization. Resampling scales well with longer integration, and at 10 × unoptimized cost could reach respectively 2.83 × and 2.75 × median sensitivities, limited by spin-wandering. Then an O1 search could yield a marginalized-polarization upper limit reaching torque-balance at 100 Hz. Frequencies from 40 to 140 Hz might be probed in equal observing time with 2 × improved detectors.

Substellar Companions to weak-line TTauri Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandner, W.; Alcala, J. M.; Covino, E.; Frink, S.

1997-05-01

Weak-line TTauri stars, contrary to classical TTauri stars, no longer possess massive circumstellar disks. In weak-line TTauri stars, the circumstellar matter was either accreted onto the TTauri star or has been redistributed. Disk instabilities in the outer disk might result in the formation of brown dwarfs and giant planets. Based on photometric and spectroscopic studies of ROSAT sources, we have selected an initial sample of 200 weak-line TTauri stars in the Chamaeleon T association and the Scorpius Centaurus OB association. In the course of follow-up observations we identified visual and spectroscopic binary stars and excluded them from our final list, as the complex dynamics and gravitational interaction in binary systems might aggravate or even completely inhibit the formation of planets (depending on physical separation of the binary components and their mass-ratio). The membership of individual stars to the associations was established from proper motion studies and radial velocity surveys. Our final sample consists of 70 single weak-line TTauri stars. We have initiated a program to spatially RESOLVE young brown dwarfs and young giant planets as companions to single weak-line TTauri stars using adaptive optics at the ESO 3.6m telescope and HST/NICMOS. In this poster we describe the observing strategy and present first results of our adaptive optics observations.

Effects of gastric distension and feeding on cardiovascular variables in the shorthorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius).

PubMed

Seth, Henrik; Axelsson, Michael

2009-01-01

We have previously shown in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) that gastric distension induces an instantaneous alpha-adrenoceptor-mediated increase in the dorsal aortic blood pressure (P(da)), with no change in cardiac output (CO), gut blood flow (Q(cma)), or heart rate. To investigate if feeding habits affect these patterns and to compare the differences between gastric distension alone and feeding in the same experimental setting, we used the short-horn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius), an inactive ambush predator with a capacity to eat large meals. An inflatable balloon was placed in the stomach of one group while another group was fed fish meat. When distending the stomach with a volume corresponding to a meal of 8-10% body weight, there is a profound and long-lasting increase in systemic (123 +/- 27%) and gastrointestinal (R(cma); 82 +/- 24%) vascular resistance, leading to an increase in P(da) (19%) without any change in CO or Q(cma). After force-feeding, there is a rapid transient increase in R(cma) (24 +/- 4%) and an even larger P(da) response (53%). There is also a subsequent increase in both CO (28 +/- 8%) and Q(cma) (27 +/- 9%) after 30 min. By 15 h, CO and Q(cma) increase further (41 +/- 11 and 63 +/- 14%, respectively), and this increase persists for up to 60 h. The increase in Q(cma) is mediated via both an increase in CO and a shunting of blood from the systemic circulation via a decrease in R(cma) (34 +/- 7%). In conclusion, the response to mechanical distension of the stomach is similar to what we have described in rainbow trout, and the postprandial gastrointestinal hyperemia is most likely chemically induced.

Accretion-induced spin-wandering effects on the neutron star in Scorpius X-1: Implications for continuous gravitational wave searches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukherjee, Arunava; Messenger, Chris; Riles, Keith

2018-02-01

The LIGO's discovery of binary black hole mergers has opened up a new era of transient gravitational wave astronomy. The potential detection of gravitational radiation from another class of astronomical objects, rapidly spinning nonaxisymmetric neutron stars, would constitute a new area of gravitational wave astronomy. Scorpius X-1 (Sco X-1) is one of the most promising sources of continuous gravitational radiation to be detected with present-generation ground-based gravitational wave detectors, such as Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. As the sensitivity of these detectors improve in the coming years, so will power of the search algorithms being used to find gravitational wave signals. Those searches will still require integration over nearly year long observational spans to detect the incredibly weak signals from rotating neutron stars. For low mass X-ray binaries such as Sco X-1 this difficult task is compounded by neutron star "spin wandering" caused by stochastic accretion fluctuations. In this paper, we analyze X-ray data from the R X T E satellite to infer the fluctuating torque on the neutron star in Sco X-1. We then perform a large-scale simulation to quantify the statistical properties of spin-wandering effects on the gravitational wave signal frequency and phase evolution. We find that there are a broad range of expected maximum levels of frequency wandering corresponding to maximum drifts of between 0.3 - 50 μ Hz /sec over a year at 99% confidence. These results can be cast in terms of the maximum allowed length of a coherent signal model neglecting spin-wandering effects as ranging between 5-80 days. This study is designed to guide the development and evaluation of Sco X-1 search algorithms.

Spectroscopic Characterization of a Newborn Neptune-Sized Planet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benneke, Bjoern

2016-10-01

The study of planet formation as it occurs has remained an elusive frontier, until now. Our team recently identified a newly-born planet orbiting a young, 5-10 Myr old, pre-main-sequence M star in the Upper Scorpius star-forming region. In its early stage, the close-in planet is about 50% larger than Neptune. Models predict that it will contract over the coming 100-1000 Myr to become a member of the intriguingly abundant class of close-in sub-Neptunes. Spectroscopic observations of this newborn planet will give us the unprecedented opportunity to probe the formation and evolution of low-mass, close-in planets at this early stage. Here, we propose to a reconnaissance study to probe the adolescent state of the gravitationally-bound atmosphere using near-infrared transit spectroscopy and the planet's hydrogen loss rate using far-UV transit spectroscopy. Together, our observations will give us unparalleled insights into the initial state of a young close-in planet as well as into the competing timescales of Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction and envelope mass-loss involved in the early evolution of close-in sub-Neptunes and Neptunes. If the proposed reconnaissance observations detect that molecular absorption in the atmosphere of USco 1610-1919b, then USco 1610-1919b will be one of the prime targets for the 200-hour JWST/NIRISS GTO program to probe the formation and evolution of exoplanets. Mid-cycle observations are required because the final target list for JWST/GTO programs must be locked in by June 2017 before the beginning of HST Cycle 25.

Temporal X-ray astronomy with a pinhole camera. [cygnus and scorpius constellation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holt, S. S.

1975-01-01

Preliminary results from the Ariel-5 all-sky X-ray monitor are presented, along with sufficient experiment details to define the experiment sensitivity. Periodic modulation of the X-ray emission was investigated from three sources with which specific periods were associated, with the results that the 4.8 hour variation from Cyg X-3 was confirmed, a long-term average 5.6 day variation from Cyg X-1 was discovered, and no detectable 0.787 day modulation of Sco X-1 was observed. Consistency of the long-term Sco X-1 emission with a shot-noise model is discussed, wherein the source behavior is shown to be interpretable as approximately 100 flares per day, each with a duration of several hours. A sudden increase in the Cyg X-1 intensity by almost a factor of three on 22 April 1975 is reported, after 5 months of relative source constancy. The light curve of a bright nova-like transient source in Triangulum is presented, and compared with previously observed transient sources. Preliminary evidence for the existence of X-ray bursts with duration less than 1 hour is offered.

The interstellar medium surrounding the Scorpius-Centaurus association revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pöppel, W. G. L.; Bajaja, E.; Arnal, E. M.; Morras, R.

2010-03-01

Aims: We want to make a large-scale study of the morphology, kinematics, and origin of the H I, which surrounds the Sco-Cen association. Methods: We combine our high-sensitivity southern H I survey with the Leiden/Dwingeloo Survey, considering l = 240° - 400°, b = -60° to +60°, and radial velocities of V = - 41.8 to + 40.8 km s-1. We point out the main H I branches surrounding the association and derive their kinematics. Kinematical H I-maps were compared with spatial maps of interstellar (IS) Na I from the literature. Upper limits for distances d were derived from optical IS absorption components from the literature. Models of expanding spherical H I shells were fitted around each stellar subgroup. Results: The expanding ring of H I associated with the Gould Belt (GB) is very prominent. At each l, its radial velocity shifts - 7 km s-1 within an interval Δ b 10° - 25°. On the sky, the shifts occur within a narrow stripe extending between l, b 250°, -18° and 400°, +50°. The ranges of distances and radial thicknesses of most H I branches are nearly 70-160 pc and 40-90 pc, respectively. The shell-models fit the main branches. Interactions between the shells built a large expanding bubble with a transverse diameter of nearly 250 pc around the association. The near face is approaching with a mean velocity bar{V} -6.6 km s-1 at d ≤ 76 pc from the Sun, covering about 102° × 65° (l, b), forming an “H I-wall”. There are streamers at bar{V} -15 to -35 km s-1, as well as gas presumably overshot into Galactic Quadrant II. The receding gas is more tenuous. Conclusions: The association is traversing the ring since a time comparable to its age producing a significant disturbance on the expanding GB-ring of gas. The latter was almost totally shocked by the association, northerly of the stripe of velocity shifts. Southerly there are large amounts of preshocked gas, as well as smaller more localized shocked regions. Hot gas within the bubble produces most of the 1/4 keV radiation detected toward it by ROSAT. The total mass of the GB gas embedding the Sco-Cen association is estimated at Mt 368 000 M_⊙ ± 60%, including 34 000 M_⊙ of associated H2 and 30% of He. About 39% of the embedding gas was shocked by the association. At mid b mid ≥ 35°, a comparison of the observations with test points moving on ballistic orbits is consistent with the formation of the Sco-Cen association within the gas ring of the GB and the presumable explosive origin of the latter. The rotation of the ring is assumed. Appendix is only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.orgMember of the Carrera del Investigador Científico, CONICET, Argentina.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ansdell, M.; Williams, J. P.; Gaidos, E.

We present ten young (≲10 Myr) late-K and M dwarf stars observed in K2 Campaign 2 that host protoplanetary disks and exhibit quasi-periodic or aperiodic dimming events. Their optical light curves show ∼10–20 dips in flux over the 80-day observing campaign with durations of ∼0.5–2 days and depths of up to ∼40%. These stars are all members of the ρ Ophiuchus (∼1 Myr) or Upper Scorpius (∼10 Myr) star-forming regions. To investigate the nature of these “dippers” we obtained: optical and near-infrared spectra to determine stellar properties and identify accretion signatures; adaptive optics imaging to search for close companions thatmore » could cause optical variations and/or influence disk evolution; and millimeter-wavelength observations to constrain disk dust and gas masses. The spectra reveal Li i absorption and Hα emission consistent with stellar youth (<50 Myr), but also accretion rates spanning those of classical and weak-line T Tauri stars. Infrared excesses are consistent with protoplanetary disks extending to within ∼10 stellar radii in most cases; however, the sub-millimeter observations imply disk masses that are an order of magnitude below those of typical protoplanetary disks. We find a positive correlation between dip depth and WISE-2 (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer-2) excess, which we interpret as evidence that the dipper phenomenon is related to occulting structures in the inner disk, although this is difficult to reconcile with the weakly accreting aperiodic dippers. We consider three mechanisms to explain the dipper phenomenon: inner disk warps near the co-rotation radius related to accretion; vortices at the inner disk edge produced by the Rossby Wave Instability; and clumps of circumstellar material related to planetesimal formation.« less

Alma Survey of Circumstellar Disks in the Young Stellar Cluster IC 348

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruíz-Rodríguez, D.; Cieza, L. A.; Williams, J. P.; Andrews, S. M.; Principe, D. A.; Caceres, C.; Canovas, H.; Casassus, S.; Schreiber, M. R.; Kastner, J. H.

2018-05-01

We present a 1.3 mm continuum survey of the young (2-3 Myr) stellar cluster IC 348, which lies at a distance of 310 pc, and is dominated by low-mass stars (M⋆ ˜ 0.1-0.6 M⊙). We observed 136 Class II sources (disks that are optically thick in the infrared) at 0.8″ (200 au) resolution with a 3σ sensitivity of ˜ 0.45 mJy (Mdust ˜ 1.3 M⊕). We detect 40 of the targets and construct a mm-continuum luminosity function. We compare the disk mass distribution in IC 348 to those of younger and older regions, taking into account the dependence on stellar mass. We find a clear evolution in disk masses from 1 to 5-10 Myr. The disk masses in IC 348 are significantly lower than those in Taurus (1-3 Myr) and Lupus (1-3 Myr), similar to those of Chamaleon I, (2-3 Myr) and σ Ori (3-5 Myr) and significantly higher than in Upper Scorpius (5-10 Myr). About 20 disks in our sample (˜5% of the cluster members) have estimated masses (dust + gas) >1 MJup and hence might be the precursors of giant planets in the cluster. Some of the most massive disks include transition objects with inner opacity holes based on their infrared SEDs. From a stacking analysis of the 96 non-detections, we find that these disks have a typical dust mass of just ≲ 0.4 M⊕, even though the vast majority of their infrared SEDs remain optically thick and show little signs of evolution. Such low-mass disks may be the precursors of the small rocky planets found by Kepler around M-type stars.

SMA Continuum Survey of Circumstellar Disks in Serpens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Law, Charles; Ricci, Luca; Andrews, Sean M.; Wilner, David J.; Qi, Chunhua

2017-06-01

The lifetime of disks surrounding pre-main-sequence stars is closely linked to planet formation and provides information on disk dispersal mechanisms and dissipation timescales. The potential for these optically thick, gas-rich disks to form planets is critically dependent on how much dust is available to be converted into terrestrial planets and rocky cores of giant planets. For this reason, an understanding of how dust mass varies with key properties such as stellar mass, age, and environment is critical for understanding planet formation. Millimeter wavelength observations, in which the dust emission is optically thin, are required to study the colder dust residing in the disk’s outer regions and to measure disk dust masses. Hence, we have obtained SMA 1.3 mm continuum observations of 62 Class II sources with suspected circumstellar disks in the Serpens star-forming region (SFR). Relative to the well-studied Taurus SFR, Serpens allows us to probe the distribution of dust masses for disks in a much denser and more clustered environment. Only 13 disks were detected in the continuum with the SMA. We calculate the total dust masses of these disks and compare their masses to those of disks in Taurus, Lupus, and Upper Scorpius. We do not find evidence of diminished dust masses in Serpens disks relative to those in Taurus despite the fact that disks in denser clusters may be expected to contain less dust mass due to stronger and more frequent tidal interactions that can disrupt the outer regions of disks. However, considering the low detection fraction, we likely detected only bright continuum sources and a more sensitive survey of Serpens would help clarify these results.

ALMA Survey of Class II Disks in the Young Stellar Cluster IC 348

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruiz, Dary; Cieza, Lucas; Williams, Jonathan; Andrews, Sean; Principe, David

2018-01-01

We present a 1.3 mm continuum survey of the young (2-3 Myr) stellar cluster IC 348 at a distance of 270 pc, which is dominated by low-mass stars. We observed 146 Class II sources (disks that are optically thick in the infrared) at 0.8 '' (200 au) resolution with a 3σ sensitivity of 0.2 MEarth. We detect 46 of the targets and construct a disk luminosity function. We compare the disk mass distribution in IC 348 to those of younger and older regions, taking into account the dependence on stellar mass. We find a clear evolution in disk masses from 1 to 5-10 Myr. The disk masses in IC 348 are significantly lower than those in Taurus (1-2 Myr) and Lupus (1-3 Myr), similar to those of Chamaleon I, (2-3 Myr) and σ-Ori (3-5 Myr) and significantly higher than in Upper Scorpius (5-10 Myr). About 20 disks in our sample (~5% of the cluster members) have estimated masses (dust + gas) of >1 MJUP. and might be the precursors of giant planets in the cluster. Some of the most massive disks include transition objects with inner opacity holes based on their infrared SEDs. From an stacking analysis of the 90 non-detections, we find that these disks have a typical dust mass of just ≤ 0.1 MEarth, even though the vast majority of their infrared SEDs remain optically thick and show little signs of evolution. Such low-mass disks are likely to be the precursors of the small rocky planets found by Kepler around M-type stars.

Young Brown Dwarfs and Giant Planets as Companions to Weak-Line T Tauri Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandner, Wolfgang; Frink, Sabine; Kohler, Rainer; Kunkel, Michael

Weak-line T Tauri stars, contrary to classical T Tauri stars, no longer possess massive circumstellar disks. In weak-line T Tauri stars, the circumstellar matter was either accreted onto the T Tauri star or has been redistributed. Disk instabilities in the outer disk might result in the formation of brown dwarfs and giant planets. Based on photometric and spectroscopic studies of ROSAT sources, we have selected an initial sample of 200 weak-line T Tauri stars in the Chamaeleon T association and the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association. In the course of follow-up observations, we identified visual and spectroscopic binary stars and excluded them from our final list, as the complex dynamics and gravitational interaction in binary systems might aggravate or even completely inhibit the formation of planets (depending on physical separation of the binary components and their mass ratio). The membership of individual stars to the associations was established from proper motion studies and radial velocity surveys. Our final sample consists of 70 single weak-line T Tauri stars. We have initiated a program to spatially resolve young brown dwarfs and young giant planets as companions to single weak-line T Tauri stars using adaptive optics at the ESO 3.6 m telescope and HST/NICMOS. In this poster we describe the observing strategy and present first results of our adaptive optics observations. An update on the program status can be found at http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~brandner/text/bd/bd.html

Wide-field Infrared Polarimetry of the ρ Ophiuchi Cloud Core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, Jungmi; Tamura, Motohide; Hough, James H.; Nakajima, Yasushi; Nishiyama, Shogo; Kusakabe, Nobuhiko; Nagata, Tetsuya; Kandori, Ryo

2015-09-01

We conducted wide and deep simultaneous JHKs-band imaging polarimetry of the ρ Ophiuchi cloud complex. Aperture polarimetry in the JHKs band was conducted for 2136 sources in all three bands, of which 322 sources have significant polarizations in all the JHKs bands and have been used for a discussion of the core magnetic fields. There is a positive correlation between degrees of polarization and H - Ks color up to H - Ks ≈ 3.5. The magnetic field structures in the core region are revealed up to at least AV ≈ 47 mag and are unambiguously defined in each sub-region (core) of Oph-A, Oph-B, Oph-C, Oph-E, Oph-F, and Oph-AC. Their directions, degrees of polarization, and polarization efficiencies differ but their changes are gradual; thus, the magnetic fields appear to be connected from core to core, rather than as a simple overlap of the different cloud core components. Comparing our results with the large-scale field structures obtained from previous optical polarimetric studies, we suggest that the magnetic field structures in the core were distorted by the cluster formation in this region, which may have been induced by shock compression due to wind/radiation from the Scorpius-Centaurus association.

The origin of RX J1856.5-3754 and RX J0720.4-3125 - updated using new parallax measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tetzlaff, N.; Eisenbeiss, T.; Neuhäuser, R.; Hohle, M. M.

2011-10-01

RX J1856.5-3754 and RX J0720.4-3125 are the only young isolated radio-quiet neutron stars (NSs) for which trigonometric parallaxes were measured. Due to detection of their thermal emission in X-rays, they are important to study NS cooling and to probe theoretical cooling models. Hence, a precise determination of their age is essential. Recently, new parallax measurements of RX J1856.5-3754 and RX J0720.4-3125 were obtained. Considering that NSs may originate from binary systems that got disrupted due to an asymmetric supernova, we attempt to identify runaway stars which may have been former companions to the NS progenitors. Such an identification would strongly support a particular birth scenario with time and place. We trace back each NS, runaway star and the centres of possible birth associations (assuming that most NSs are ejected directly from their parent association) to find close encounters. The kinematic age is then given by the time since the encounter. We use Monte Carlo simulations to account for observational uncertainties and evaluate the outcome statistically. Using the most recent parallax measurement of 8.16 ± 0.80 mas for RX J1856.5-3754 by Walter et al., we find that it originated in the Upper Scorpius association 0.46 ± 0.05 Myr ago. This kinematic age is slightly larger than the value we reported earlier (0.3 Myr) using the old parallax value of 5.6 ± 0.6 mas by Kaplan. Our result is strongly supported by its current radial velocity which we predict to be 6+19- 20 km s-1. This implies an inclination angle to the line of sight of 88°± 6° consistent with estimates by van Kerkwijk & Kulkarni from the bow shock. No suitable runaway star was found to be a potential former companion of RX J1856.5-3754. Making use of a recent parallax measurement for RX J0720.4-3125 of 3.6 ± 1.6 mas by Eisenbeiss, we find that this NS was possibly born in Trumpler 10 0.85 ± 0.15 Myr ago. This kinematic age is somewhat larger than the one obtained using the old parallax value of 2.77 ± 1.29 mas by Kaplan et al. (0.5 Myr). We suggest the B0 runaway supergiant HIP 43158 as a candidate for a former companion of the progenitor star. Then, the current distance of RX J0720.4-3125 to the Sun should be 286+27- 23 pc, in agreement with recent measurements. We then expect the radial velocity of RX J0720.4-3125 to be -76+34- 17 km s-1.

The Demographics and Properties of Wide-Orbit, Planetary-Mass Companions from PSF Fitting of Spitzer/IRAC Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinez, Raquel; Kraus, Adam L.

2017-06-01

Over the past decade, a growing population of planetary-mass companions (< 20 MJup PMCs) orbiting young stars have been discovered. These objects are at wide separations (> 100 AU) from their host stars, challenging existing models of both star and planet formation. It is unclear whether these systems represent the low-mass extreme of stellar binary formation or the high-mass and wide-orbit extreme of planet formation theories, as various proposed formation pathways inadequately explain the physical and orbital aspects of these systems. Even so, determining which scenario best reproduces the observed characteristics of the PMCs will come once a statistically robust sample of directly-imaged PMCs are found and studied.We are developing an automated pipeline to search for wide-orbit PMCs to young stars in Spitzer/IRAC images. A Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm is the backbone of our novel point spread function (PSF) subtraction routine that efficiently creates and subtracts χ2-minimizing instrumental PSFs, simultaneously measuring astrometry and infrared photometry of these systems across the four IRAC channels (3.6 μm, 4.5 μm, 5.8 μm, and 8 μm). In this work, we present the results of a Spitzer/IRAC archival imaging study of 11 young, low-mass (0.044-0.88 M⊙ K3.5-M7.5) stars known to have faint, low-mass companions in 3 nearby star-forming regions (Chameleon, Taurus, and Upper Scorpius). We characterize the systems found to have low-mass companions with non-zero [I1] - [I4] colors, potentially signifying the presence of a circum(sub?)stellar disk. Plans for future pipeline improvements and paths forward will also be discussed. Once this computational foundation is optimized, the stage is set to quickly scour the nearby star-forming regions already imaged by Spitzer, identify potential candidates for further characterization with ground- or space-based telescopes, and increase the number of widely-separated PMCs known.

Observations of Scorpius X-1 with IUE - Ultraviolet results from a multiwavelength campaign

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vrtilek, S. D.; Raymond, J. C.; Penninx, W.; Verbunt, F.; Hertz, P.

1991-01-01

IUE UV results are presented for the low-mass X-ray binary Sco X-1. Models that predict UV continuum emission from the X-ray-heated surface from the companion star and from an X-ray illuminated accretion disk are adjusted for parameters intrinsic to Sco X-1, and fitted to the data. X-ray heating is found to be the dominant source of UV emission; the mass-accretion rate increases monotonically along the 'Z-shaped' curve in an X-ray color-color diagram. UV emission lines from He, C, N, O, and Si were detected; they all increase in intensity from the HB to the FB state. A model in which emission lines are due to outer-disk photoionization by the X-ray source is noted to give good agreement with line fluxes observed in each state.

Vacuum Studies of a Prototype Composite Coil Dewar for HTSC Transformers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schwenterly, S W; Zhang, Y.; Pleva, Ed

2010-01-01

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is collaborating with Waukesha Electric Systems (WES) to develop a high-temperature superconducting (HTSC) utility power transformer with primary and secondary coils cooled by liquid nitrogen. Since the vacuuminsulated cryogenic coil dewar surrounds the magnetic core limb and cannot form a shorted turn, non-conductive materials are required. Two test vessels and a small prototype dewar have been fabricated by Scorpius Space Launch Company with epoxy/fiberglass composites, using their proprietary PRESSURMAXX vessel technology. The effects of pumping time, bakeout temperature, and cryogenic vessel temperature on vacuum outgassing rates have been investigated. Outgassing rates of the individual materialsmore » used in vessel construction have also been measured. The results will be scaled up to determine the required pumping capacity for a full-size 25-MVA commercial transformer dewar.« less

Vacuum Studies of a Prototype Composite Coil Dewar for HTSC Transformers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schwenterly, S W; Zhang, Y.; Pleva, E. F.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is collaborating with Waukesha Electric Systems (WES) to develop a high-temperature superconducting (HTSC) utility power transformer with primary and secondary coils cooled by liquid nitrogen. Since the vacuum-insulated cryogenic coil dewar surrounds the magnetic core limb and cannot form a shorted turn, non-conductive materials are required. Two test vessels and a small prototype dewar have been fabricated by Scorpius Space Launch Company with epoxy/fiberglass composites, using their proprietary PRESSURMAXX vessel technology. The effects of pumping time, bakeout temperature, and cryogenic vessel temperature on vacuum outgassing rates have been investigated. Outgassing rates of the individual materialsmore » used in vessel construction have also been measured. The results will be scaled up to determine the required pumping capacity for a full-size 25-MVA commercial transformer dewar.« less

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Photometric survey of IC 2391, {eta} Cha, and USco (Oelkers+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oelkers, R. J.; Macri, L. M.; Marshall, J. L.; Depoy, D. L.; Lambas, D. G.; Colazo, C.; Stringer, K.

2016-09-01

Our survey instrument, nicknamed AggieCam, consists of an Apogee Alta F16M camera with a 4096*4096pixel Kodak KAD-16083 CCD that is thermoelectrically cooled down to δT=-45°C relative to ambient. Testing of the CCD showed a dark current of 0.2e-/pix/s at temperatures of -25°C relative to ambient. The optics include a Mamiya photographic 300mm lens with a Hoya UV and IR cut filter to restrict the wavelength range to 0.4-0.7μm. The effective aperture size of the telescope is 53.6mm and the total throughput of the system is near 45%. The pixel scale of the detector is 6.2''/pix, leading to a total field of view (hereafter FOV) of ~50deg2. The telescope was installed at the Estacion Astrofisica de Bosque Alegre (hereafter EABA) as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, which owns and operates the site. EABA is a research and outreach observatory located at 31.412°S, 64.489°W at an altitude of 1350m, ~50km from the city of Cordoba, province of Cordoba, Argentina. Nearly all observations were carried out remotely from the Mitchell Institute of Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Logistical support for the instrument was provided by staff members of the Instituto de Astronomia Teorica y Experimental, Observatorio de Cordoba, and EABA. We targeted three young stellar associations to maximize the science return from our study: IC 2391 (α=8h40m,δ=-53°), the {eta} Chamaeleontis cluster ({eta}Cha,α=8h45m,δ=-79°), and the Upper Scorpius association (USco,α=16h,δ=-24.5°). Any transiting Hot Jupiter (HJ) or pre-main-sequence eclipsing binary (PMB) candidate passing all of the significance tests described in Sections 4.1 and 4.2 was then subject to a series of follow up photometric observations. The 1.54m telescope at EABA provided 300+hr of BVRI photometry to date, with further observations planned. The 0.8m telescope at the McDonald Observatory provided 14hr of BVRI photometry. The Las Cumbres Global Observatory Telescope Network (LCOGT) provided 30hr of gri photometry from their 1m facilities. The Texas A&M University campus observatory 0.5m telescope provided 30hr of gri photometry. Additionally, the 2.1m telescope at the McDonald Observatory, coupled with the Sandiford Echelle Spectrograph provided 14hr of initial spectroscopic follow up during the Spring of 2015. (3 data files).

The quasi-periodic oscillations and very low frequency noise of Scorpius X-1 as transient chaos - A dripping handrail?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scargle, Jeffrey D.; Steiman-Cameron, Thomas; Young, Karl; Donoho, David L.; Crutchfield, James P.; Imamura, James

1993-01-01

We present evidence that the quasi-periodic oscillations (QPO) and very low frequency noise (VLFN) characteristic of many accretion sources are different aspects of the same physical process. We analyzed a long, high time resolution EXOSAT observation of the low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) Sco X-1. The X-ray luminosity varies stochastically on time scales from milliseconds to hours. The nature of this variability - as quantified with both power spectrum analysis and a new wavelet technique, the scalegram - agrees well with the dripping handrail accretion model, a simple dynamical system which exhibits transient chaos. In this model both the QPO and VLFN are produced by radiation from blobs with a wide size distribution, resulting from accretion and subsequent diffusion of hot gas, the density of which is limited by an unspecified instability to lie below a threshold.

The High Energy X-ray Spectrum of 4U1700-37 Observed from OSO-8

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dolan, J. F.; Coe, M. J.; Crannell, C. J.; Dennis, B. R.; Frost, K. J.; Maurer, G. S.; Orwig, L. E.

1979-01-01

The most intense hard X-ray source in the confused region in Scorpius is identified as 4U1700-37. The 3.4-day modulation is seen above 20 keV with the intensity during eclipse being consistent with zero flux. The photon-number spectrum from 20 to 150 keV is well represented by a single power law with a photo-number spectral index of -2.77 + or - 0.35 or by a thermal bremsstrahlung spectrum with kT = 27 96.8-min X-ray modulation previously reported at lower energies. Despite the difficulties in reconciling both the lack of periodic modulation in the emitted X-radiation and the orbital dynamics of the system with theories of the evolution and physical properties of neutron stars, the observed properties of 4U1700-37 are all consistent with the source being a spherically accreting neutron star rather than a black hole.

Measuring Fundamental Parameters of Substellar Objects. I. Surface Gravities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohanty, Subhanjoy; Basri, Gibor; Jayawardhana, Ray; Allard, France; Hauschildt, Peter; Ardila, David

2004-07-01

We present an analysis of high-resolution optical spectra for a sample of very young, mid- to late-M, low-mass stellar and substellar objects: 11 in the Upper Scorpius association, and two (GG Tau Ba and Bb) in the Taurus star-forming region. Effective temperatures and surface gravities are derived from a multiple-feature spectral analysis using TiO, Na I, and K I, through comparison with the latest synthetic spectra. We show that these spectral diagnostics complement each other, removing degeneracies with temperature and gravity in the behavior of each. In combination, they allow us to determine temperature to within 50 K and gravity to within 0.25 dex, in very cool young objects. Our high-resolution spectral analysis does not require extinction estimates. Moreover, it yields temperatures and gravities independent of theoretical evolutionary models (although our estimates do depend on the synthetic spectral modeling). We find that our gravities for most of the sample agree remarkably well with the isochrone predictions for the likely cluster ages. However, discrepancies appear in our coolest targets: these appear to have significantly lower gravity (by up to 0.75 dex) than our hotter objects, even though our entire sample covers a relatively narrow range in effective temperature (~300 K). This drop in gravity is also implied by intercomparisons of the data alone, without recourse to synthetic spectra. We consider, and argue against, dust opacity, cool stellar spots, or metallicity differences leading to the observed spectral effects; a real decline in gravity is strongly indicated. Such gravity variations are contrary to the predictions of the evolutionary tracks, causing improbably low ages to be inferred from the tracks for our coolest targets. Through a simple consideration of contraction timescales, we quantify the age errors introduced into the tracks through the particular choice of initial conditions and demonstrate that they can be significant for low-mass objects that are only a few megayears old. However, we also find that these errors appear insufficient to explain the magnitude of the age offsets in our lowest gravity targets. We venture that this apparent age offset may arise from evolutionary model uncertainties related to accretion, deuterium burning and/or convection effects. Finally, when combined with photometry and distance information, our technique for deriving surface gravities and effective temperatures provides a way of obtaining masses and radii for substellar objects independent of evolutionary models; radius and mass determinations are presented in Paper II.

Predictors of Upper-Extremity Physical Function in Older Adults.

PubMed

Hermanussen, Hugo H; Menendez, Mariano E; Chen, Neal C; Ring, David; Vranceanu, Ana-Maria

2016-10-01

Little is known about the influence of habitual participation in physical exercise and diet on upper-extremity physical function in older adults. To assess the relationship of general physical exercise and diet to upper-extremity physical function and pain intensity in older adults. A cohort of 111 patients 50 or older completed a sociodemographic survey, the Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA), an 11-point ordinal pain intensity scale, a Mediterranean diet questionnaire, and three Patient- Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) based questionnaires: Pain Interference to measure inability to engage in activities due to pain, Upper-Extremity Physical Function, and Depression. Multivariable linear regression modeling was used to characterize the association of physical activity, diet, depression, and pain interference to pain intensity and upper-extremity function. Higher general physical activity was associated with higher PROMIS Upper-Extremity Physical Function and lower pain intensity in bivariate analyses. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet did not correlate with PROMIS Upper-Extremity Physical Function or pain intensity in bivariate analysis. In multivariable analyses factors associated with higher PROMIS Upper-Extremity Physical Function were male sex, non-traumatic diagnosis and PROMIS Pain Interference, with the latter accounting for most of the observed variability (37%). Factors associated with greater pain intensity in multivariable analyses included fewer years of education and higher PROMIS Pain Interference. General physical activity and diet do not seem to be as strongly or directly associated with upper-extremity physical function as pain interference.

Short-term use of serotonin reuptake inhibitors and risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

PubMed

Wang, Yen-Po; Chen, Yung-Tai; Tsai, Chia-Fen; Li, Szu-Yuan; Luo, Jiing-Chyuan; Wang, Shuu-Jiun; Tang, Chao-Hsiun; Liu, Chia-Jen; Lin, Han-Chieh; Lee, Fa-Yauh; Chang, Full-Young; Lu, Ching-Liang

2014-01-01

The association between selective serotonin receptor inhibitors (SSRIs) and risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding remains controversial. Previous studies have generally evaluated the issue for approximately 3 months, even though the SSRI-mediated inhibition of platelet serotonin concentrations occurs within 7-14 days. The authors explored the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding after short-term SSRI exposure by a case-crossover design. The records of psychiatric inpatients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding were retrieved from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database (1998-2009). Rates of antidepressant use were compared for case and control periods with time windows of 7, 14, and 28 days. The adjusted self-matched odds ratios from a conditional logistic regression model were used to determine the association between SSRI use and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. A total of 5,377 patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding were enrolled. The adjusted odds ratio for the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding after SSRI exposure was 1.67 (95% CI=1.23-2.26) for the 7-day window, 1.84 (95% CI=1.42-2.40) for the 14-day window, and 1.67 (95% CI=1.34-2.08) for the 28-day window. SSRIs with high and intermediate, but not low, affinity for serotonin transporter were associated with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. An elevated risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding after SSRI exposure was seen in male but not female patients. Short-term SSRI use (7-28 days) is significantly associated with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Gender differences may exist in the relationship between SSRI use and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Physicians should carefully monitor signs of upper gastrointestinal bleeding even after short-term exposure to SSRIs, as is done with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and aspirin.

Upper limb injury in rugby union football: results of a cohort study.

PubMed

Usman, Juliana; McIntosh, Andrew Stuart

2013-04-01

There have been few in-depth studies of upper limb injury epidemiology in rugby union football, despite reports that they accounted for between 14% and 28% of all rugby injuries. To report on upper limb injury incidence, injury severity and to identify the risk factors associated with upper limb injuries, for example, level of play, season (years) and playing position. Prospective cohort study across five rugby seasons from 2004 to 2008. Formal rugby competitions-suburban, provincial and international. 1475 adult male rugby players in Colts, Grade and Elite competitions. An upper limb injury resulting in a missed game and its characteristics. A total of 61 598 athletic exposures (AE) and 606 upper limb injuries were recorded. About 66% of the injuries were to the shoulder. The overall upper limb injury incidence rate (IIR) was 9.84 injuries/1000 AE (95% CI 9.06 to 10.62). Statistically significant associations were found between upper limb injuries and level of play; and between shoulder injuries and playing position (p<0.05). No association was found between upper limb and shoulder injuries and study year. The overall upper limb IIR decreased as the level of play increased; 10.74 upper limb injuries/1000 AE (95% CI 9.93 to 11.56) in Colts to 6.07 upper limb injuries/1000 AE (95% CI 5.46 to 6.69) in Elite. The upper limb IIR decreased as the level of play increased indicating that age, level of skill and playing experience may be risk factors for upper limb injury.

An association between Helicobacter pylori and upper respiratory tract disease: Fact or fiction?

PubMed Central

Kariya, Shin; Okano, Mitsuhiro; Nishizaki, Kazunori

2014-01-01

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a major cause of chronic gastritis and gastric ulcers and considerable evidence supports the notion that infection with this bacterium is also associated with gastric malignancy in addition to various other conditions including pulmonary, vascular and autoimmune disorders. Gastric juice infected with H. pylori might play an important role in upper respiratory tract infection. Although direct and/or indirect mechanisms might be involved in the association between H. pylori and upper respiratory tract diseases, the etiological role of H. pylori in upper respiratory tract disorders has not yet been fully elucidated. Although various studies over the past two decades have suggested a relationship between H. pylori and upper respiratory tract diseases, the findings are inconsistent. The present overview describes the outcomes of recent investigations into the impact of H. pylori on upper respiratory tract and adjacent lesions. PMID:24587622

A Search for Low Mass Stars and Substellar Companions and A Study of Circumbinary Gas and Dust Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez, David R.

2011-01-01

We have searched for nearby low-mass stars and brown dwarfs and have studied the planet-forming environment of binary stars. We have carried out a search for young, low-mass stars in nearby stellar associations using X-ray and UV source catalogs. We discovered a new technique to identify 10-100 Myr-old low-mass stars within 100 pc of the Earth using GALEX-optical/near-IR data. We present candidate young stars found by applying this new method in the 10 Myr old TW Hydrae and Scorpius-Centaurus associations. In addition, we have searched for the coolest brown dwarf class: Y-dwarfs, expected to appear at temperatures <500 K. Using wide-field near infrared imaging with ground (CTIO, Palomar, KPNO) and space (Spitzer, AKARI) observatories, we have looked for companions to nearby, old (2 Gyr or older), high proper motion white dwarfs. We present results for Southern Hemisphere white dwarfs. Additionally, we have characterized how likely planet formation occurs in binary star systems. While 20% of planets have been discovered around one member of a binary system, these binaries have semi-major axes larger than 20 AU. We have performed an AO and spectroscopic search for binary stars among a sample of known debris disk stars, which allows us to indirectly study planet formation and evolution in binary systems. As a case study, we examined the gas and dust present in the circumbinary disk around V4046 Sagittarii, a 2.4-day spectroscopic binary. Our results demonstrate it is unlikely that planets can form in binaries with stellar semi-major axes of 10s of AU. This research has been funded by a NASA ADA grant to UCLA and RIT.

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with CKD.

PubMed

Liang, Chih-Chia; Wang, Su-Ming; Kuo, Huey-Liang; Chang, Chiz-Tzung; Liu, Jiung-Hsiun; Lin, Hsin-Hung; Wang, I-Kuan; Yang, Ya-Fei; Lu, Yueh-Ju; Chou, Che-Yi; Huang, Chiu-Ching

2014-08-07

Patients with CKD receiving maintenance dialysis are at risk for upper gastrointestinal bleeding. However, the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with early CKD who are not receiving dialysis is unknown. The hypothesis was that their risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding is negatively linked to renal function. To test this hypothesis, the association between eGFR and risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with stages 3-5 CKD who were not receiving dialysis was analyzed. Patients with stages 3-5 CKD in the CKD program from 2003 to 2009 were enrolled and prospectively followed until December of 2012 to monitor the development of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding was analyzed using competing-risks regression with time-varying covariates. In total, 2968 patients with stages 3-5 CKD who were not receiving dialysis were followed for a median of 1.9 years. The incidence of upper gastrointestinal bleeding per 100 patient-years was 3.7 (95% confidence interval, 3.5 to 3.9) in patients with stage 3 CKD, 5.0 (95% confidence interval, 4.8 to 5.3) in patients with stage 4 CKD, and 13.9 (95% confidence interval, 13.1 to 14.8) in patients with stage 5 CKD. Higher eGFR was associated with a lower risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (P=0.03), with a subdistribution hazard ratio of 0.93 (95% confidence interval, 0.87 to 0.99) for every 5 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) higher eGFR. A history of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (P<0.001) and lower serum albumin (P=0.004) were independently associated with higher upper gastrointestinal bleeding risk. In patients with CKD who are not receiving dialysis, lower renal function is associated with higher risk for upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The risk is higher in patients with previous upper gastrointestinal bleeding history and low serum albumin. Copyright © 2014 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Clinicopathological characteristics of patients with upper urinary tract urothelial cancer with loss of immunohistochemical expression of the DNA mismatch repair proteins in universal screening.

PubMed

Urakami, Shinji; Inoshita, Naoko; Oka, Suguru; Miyama, Yu; Nomura, Sachio; Arai, Masami; Sakaguchi, Kazushige; Kurosawa, Kazuhiro; Okaneya, Toshikazu

2018-02-01

To assess the detection rate of putative Lynch syndrome-associated upper urinary tract urothelial cancer among all upper urinary tract urothelial cancers and to examine its clinicopathological characteristics. A total of 143 patients with upper urinary tract urothelial cancer who had received total nephroureterectomy were immunohistochemically stained for the expression of mismatch repair proteins MLH1, PMS2, MSH2 and MSH6. For all suspected mismatch repair-deficient cases, MMR genetic testing was recommended and clinicopathological features were examined. Loss of mismatch repair proteins was found in seven patients (5%) who were thus categorized as putative Lynch syndrome-associated upper urinary tract urothelial cancer. Five of these patients showed dual loss of MSH2/MSH6. Two patients were confirmed to be MSH2 germline mutation carriers. Histologically, all seven tumors were low-grade atypical urothelial carcinoma and showed its unique histological features, such as an inverted papilloma-like growth pattern and a villous to papillary structure with mild stratification of tumor cells. Six tumors had no invasion of the muscularis propria. No recurrence or cancer-related deaths were reported in these seven patients. Just three patients met the revised Amsterdam criteria. This is the first report that universally examined mismatch repair immunohistochemical screening for upper urinary tract urothelial cancers. The prevalence (5%) of putative Lynch syndrome-associated upper urinary tract urothelial cancers is much higher than we had expected. We ascertained that putative Lynch syndrome-associated upper urinary tract urothelial cancers were clinically in the early stage and histologically classified into low-grade malignancy with its characteristic pathological features. The clinicopathological characteristics that we found in the present study could become additional possible markers in the diagnosis of Lynch syndrome-associated upper urinary tract urothelial cancers. © 2017 The Japanese Urological Association.

Upper tract urothelial carcinomas: frequency of association with mismatch repair protein loss and lynch syndrome.

PubMed

Harper, Holly L; McKenney, Jesse K; Heald, Brandie; Stephenson, Andrew; Campbell, Steven C; Plesec, Thomas; Magi-Galluzzi, Cristina

2017-01-01

Increased risk for upper tract urothelial carcinoma is described in patients with Lynch syndrome, caused by germline mutations in mismatch repair genes. We aimed to identify the frequency of mismatch repair protein loss in upper tract urothelial carcinoma and its potential for identifying an association with Lynch syndrome. We queried our database to identify upper tract urothelial carcinomas. Patients were cross-referenced for history of colorectal carcinoma or other common Lynch syndrome-associated neoplasms to enrich for potential Lynch syndrome cases. Tumor histopathologic characteristics were reviewed and each case was analyzed for loss of mismatch repair proteins, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2, by immunohistochemistry. Of 444 patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma, a subset of 215 (encompassing 30 with upper tract urothelial carcinoma and another common Lynch syndrome-associated neoplasm) was analyzed for loss of mismatch repair protein expression. Of 30 patients with Lynch syndrome-associated neoplasms, six had documented Lynch syndrome, including two with Muir-Torre syndrome. Mismatch repair protein loss was identified in 7% of total upper tract urothelial carcinomas and 30% of patients with Lynch syndrome-associated neoplasms (including all patients with Lynch syndrome/Muir-Torre syndrome). Of patients without history of Lynch syndrome-associated neoplasms, 5 of 184 (2.7%) had loss of mismatch repair protein expression. Twelve cases with mismatch repair protein loss demonstrated loss of MSH2 and MSH6, and 2 had isolated loss of MSH6. MLH1 and PMS2 expression were consistently retained. Although increased intratumoral lymphocytes, inverted growth, pushing tumor-stromal interface, and lack of nuclear pleomorphism were more commonly seen in cases with mismatch repair protein loss, only intratumoral lymphocytes and presence of pushing borders were statistically significant. MLH1 and PMS2 testing appear to have little utility in upper tract urothelial carcinoma; however, mismatch repair protein loss of MSH2 and/or MSH6 by immunohistochemistry seems relatively sensitive and specific for identifying patients with potential Lynch syndrome.

William Herschel's 'Hole in the Sky' and the discovery of dark nebulae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinicke, Wolfgang

2016-12-01

In 1785 William Herschel published a paper in the Philosophical Transactions containing the remarkable section "An opening or hole". It describes an unusual vacant place in Scorpius. This matter falls into oblivion until Caroline Herschel initiated a correspondence with her nephew John in 1833. It contains Herschel's spectacular words "Hier ist wahrhaftig ein Loch im Himmel" ("Here truly is a hole in the sky"). About a hundred years later, Johann Georg Hagen, Director of the Vatican Observatory, presented a spectacular candidate for the 'hole', discovered in 1857 by Angelo Secchi in Sagittarius and later catalogued by Edward E. Barnard as the dark nebula B 86. Hagen's claim initiated a debate, mainly in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association, about the identity of Herschel's 'object'. Though things could be partly cleared up, unjustified claims still remain. This is mainly due to the fact that original sources were not consulted. A comprehensive study of the curious 'hole' is presented here. It covers major parts of the epochal astronomical work of William, Caroline and John Herschel. This includes a general study of 'vacant places', found by William Herschel and others, and the speculations about their nature, eventually leading to the finding that dark nebulae are due to absorbing interstellar matter. Some of the 'vacant places' could be identified in catalogues of dark nebulae and this leads to a 'Herschel Catalogue of Dark Nebulae' - the first historic catalogue of its kind.

Air pollution and hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections among children in Ningbo, China: A time-series analysis.

PubMed

Zheng, Pei-Wen; Wang, Jian-Bing; Zhang, Zhen-Yu; Shen, Peng; Chai, Peng-Fei; Li, Die; Jin, Ming-Juan; Tang, Meng-Ling; Lu, Huai-Chu; Lin, Hong-Bo; Chen, Kun

2017-08-01

Acute upper and lower respiratory infections are main causes of mortality and morbidity in children. Air pollution has been recognized as an important contributor to development and exacerbation of respiratory infections. However, few studies are available in China. In this study, we investigated the short-term effect of air pollution on hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections among children under 15 years in Ningbo, China. Poisson generalized models were used to estimate the associations between air pollution and hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections adjusted for temporal, seasonal, and meteorological effects. We found that four pollutants (PM 2.5 , PM 10 , NO 2 , and SO 2 ) were significantly associated with hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections. The effect estimates for acute upper respiratory infections tended to be higher (PM 2.5 ER = 3.46, 95% CI 2.18, 4.76; PM 10 ER = 2.81, 95% CI 1.93, 3.69; NO 2 ER = 11.27, 95% CI 8.70, 13.89; SO 2 ER = 15.17, 95% CI 11.29, 19.19). Significant associations for gaseous pollutants (NO 2 and SO 2 ) were observed after adjustment for particular matter. Stronger associations were observed among older children and in the cold period. Our study suggested that short-term exposure to outdoor air pollution was associated with hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections in Ningbo.

Impact of smoking on the age at diagnosis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma: Subanalysis of the Japanese Urological Association multi-institutional national database.

PubMed

Miyazaki, Jun; Nishiyama, Hiroyuki; Fujimoto, Hiroyuki; Ohyama, Chikara; Koie, Takuya; Hinotsu, Shiro; Kikuchi, Eiji; Sakura, Mizuaki; Inokuchi, Junichi; Hara, Tomohiko

2015-11-01

To examine the influence of smoking history on the diagnosis and other tumor characteristics of upper tract urothelial carcinoma in Japan. A total of 1509 patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma who were diagnosed in 2005 from 348 Japanese institutions were registered using the multi-institutional national database of the Japanese Urological Association and included in this analysis. Clinical data of the patients were collected in 2011. The associations between the patients' self-reported smoking history and their age at the diagnosis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma, sex, pathological T stage and tumor grade were analyzed. The mean age at the diagnosis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma was approximately 5 years earlier for the 238 current smokers than for the 618 current non-smokers (P < 0.0001). Similar associations between smoking and the early diagnosis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma were shown in the sex subgroups and in subgroups stratified by pathological T stages. Among the current smokers, the age at diagnosis for the smoking ≥ 20 cigarettes per day group was 6.5 years lower than that of the < 20 cigarettes per day group, which was significantly different (P < 0.0001). Current smoking is a significant risk factor for the earlier diagnosis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma. The finding is important from the perspective of both healthcare and medical economies. © 2015 The Japanese Urological Association.

Laboratory test variables useful for distinguishing upper from lower gastrointestinal bleeding.

PubMed

Tomizawa, Minoru; Shinozaki, Fuminobu; Hasegawa, Rumiko; Shirai, Yoshinori; Motoyoshi, Yasufumi; Sugiyama, Takao; Yamamoto, Shigenori; Ishige, Naoki

2015-05-28

To distinguish upper from lower gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Patient records between April 2011 and March 2014 were analyzed retrospectively (3296 upper endoscopy, and 1520 colonoscopy). Seventy-six patients had upper GI bleeding (Upper group) and 65 had lower GI bleeding (Lower group). Variables were compared between the groups using one-way analysis of variance. Logistic regression was performed to identify variables significantly associated with the diagnosis of upper vs lower GI bleeding. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to determine the threshold value that could distinguish upper from lower GI bleeding. Hemoglobin (P = 0.023), total protein (P = 0.0002), and lactate dehydrogenase (P = 0.009) were significantly lower in the Upper group than in the Lower group. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) was higher in the Upper group than in the Lower group (P = 0.0065). Logistic regression analysis revealed that BUN was most strongly associated with the diagnosis of upper vs lower GI bleeding. ROC analysis revealed a threshold BUN value of 21.0 mg/dL, with a specificity of 93.0%. The threshold BUN value for distinguishing upper from lower GI bleeding was 21.0 mg/dL.

Laboratory test variables useful for distinguishing upper from lower gastrointestinal bleeding

PubMed Central

Tomizawa, Minoru; Shinozaki, Fuminobu; Hasegawa, Rumiko; Shirai, Yoshinori; Motoyoshi, Yasufumi; Sugiyama, Takao; Yamamoto, Shigenori; Ishige, Naoki

2015-01-01

AIM: To distinguish upper from lower gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. METHODS: Patient records between April 2011 and March 2014 were analyzed retrospectively (3296 upper endoscopy, and 1520 colonoscopy). Seventy-six patients had upper GI bleeding (Upper group) and 65 had lower GI bleeding (Lower group). Variables were compared between the groups using one-way analysis of variance. Logistic regression was performed to identify variables significantly associated with the diagnosis of upper vs lower GI bleeding. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to determine the threshold value that could distinguish upper from lower GI bleeding. RESULTS: Hemoglobin (P = 0.023), total protein (P = 0.0002), and lactate dehydrogenase (P = 0.009) were significantly lower in the Upper group than in the Lower group. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) was higher in the Upper group than in the Lower group (P = 0.0065). Logistic regression analysis revealed that BUN was most strongly associated with the diagnosis of upper vs lower GI bleeding. ROC analysis revealed a threshold BUN value of 21.0 mg/dL, with a specificity of 93.0%. CONCLUSION: The threshold BUN value for distinguishing upper from lower GI bleeding was 21.0 mg/dL. PMID:26034359

Patients with Urinary Incontinence Appear More Likely to Develop Upper Urinary Tract Stones: A Nationwide, Population-Based Study with 8-Year Follow-Up

PubMed Central

Chung, Hsiao-Jen; Lin, Alex Tong-Long; Lin, Chih-Chieh; Chen, Tzeng-Ji; Chen, Kuang-Kuo

2016-01-01

This study aimed to investigate associations between primary urinary incontinence and development of upper urinary tract stones in a nationwide population in Taiwan. Data of 1,777 adults with primary urinary incontinence and 26,655 controls (groups A, B, and C) without urinary incontinence at study inception were retrieved from the National Health Insurance System database in Taiwan and were analyzed retrospectively. No enrolled subjects had previous diagnosis of upper urinary tract stones or spinal cord injury. All subjects were followed through end of 2009, with a minimum follow-up of 8 years. A greater percentage of study subjects (334/1777, 18.8%) developed upper urinary tract stones than that of control groups A (865/8885, 9.7%) and B (888/8885, 10%), and C (930/8885, 10.5%) (all p-values < 0.0001). Urinary incontinence was associated with significantly increased risk of developing urinary tract stones (HR 1.99, 95% CI, 1.70–2.34, p < 0.001). Age and metabolic syndrome status were both associated with developing upper urinary tract stones (both p-values < 0.0001). After adjusting for metabolic syndrome, regression analysis showed that urinary incontinence was still associated with a significantly increased risk of developing upper urinary tract stones (HR 1.99, 95% CI = 1.76–2.26, p < 0.0001). Long-term follow-up of Taiwanese patients with primary urinary incontinence suggests that urinary incontinence is associated with a significantly increased risk of developing upper urinary tract stones. Study findings suggest that physicians treating patients with urinary incontinence should give attention to early detection of upper urinary tract stones. PMID:27536881

Patients with Urinary Incontinence Appear More Likely to Develop Upper Urinary Tract Stones: A Nationwide, Population-Based Study with 8-Year Follow-Up.

PubMed

Chung, Hsiao-Jen; Lin, Alex Tong-Long; Lin, Chih-Chieh; Chen, Tzeng-Ji; Chen, Kuang-Kuo

2016-01-01

This study aimed to investigate associations between primary urinary incontinence and development of upper urinary tract stones in a nationwide population in Taiwan. Data of 1,777 adults with primary urinary incontinence and 26,655 controls (groups A, B, and C) without urinary incontinence at study inception were retrieved from the National Health Insurance System database in Taiwan and were analyzed retrospectively. No enrolled subjects had previous diagnosis of upper urinary tract stones or spinal cord injury. All subjects were followed through end of 2009, with a minimum follow-up of 8 years. A greater percentage of study subjects (334/1777, 18.8%) developed upper urinary tract stones than that of control groups A (865/8885, 9.7%) and B (888/8885, 10%), and C (930/8885, 10.5%) (all p-values < 0.0001). Urinary incontinence was associated with significantly increased risk of developing urinary tract stones (HR 1.99, 95% CI, 1.70-2.34, p < 0.001). Age and metabolic syndrome status were both associated with developing upper urinary tract stones (both p-values < 0.0001). After adjusting for metabolic syndrome, regression analysis showed that urinary incontinence was still associated with a significantly increased risk of developing upper urinary tract stones (HR 1.99, 95% CI = 1.76-2.26, p < 0.0001). Long-term follow-up of Taiwanese patients with primary urinary incontinence suggests that urinary incontinence is associated with a significantly increased risk of developing upper urinary tract stones. Study findings suggest that physicians treating patients with urinary incontinence should give attention to early detection of upper urinary tract stones.

Lobar Emphysema Distribution Is Associated With 5-Year Radiological Disease Progression.

PubMed

Boueiz, Adel; Chang, Yale; Cho, Michael H; Washko, George R; San José Estépar, Raul; Bowler, Russell P; Crapo, James D; DeMeo, Dawn L; Dy, Jennifer G; Silverman, Edwin K; Castaldi, Peter J

2018-01-01

Emphysema has considerable variability in its regional distribution. Craniocaudal emphysema distribution is an important predictor of the response to lung volume reduction. However, there is little consensus regarding how to define upper lobe-predominant and lower lobe-predominant emphysema subtypes. Consequently, the clinical and genetic associations with these subtypes are poorly characterized. We sought to identify subgroups characterized by upper-lobe or lower-lobe emphysema predominance and comparable amounts of total emphysema by analyzing data from 9,210 smokers without alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency in the Genetic Epidemiology of COPD (COPDGene) cohort. CT densitometric emphysema was measured in each lung lobe. Random forest clustering was applied to lobar emphysema variables after regressing out the effects of total emphysema. Clusters were tested for association with clinical and imaging outcomes at baseline and at 5-year follow-up. Their associations with genetic variants were also compared. Three clusters were identified: minimal emphysema (n = 1,312), upper lobe-predominant emphysema (n = 905), and lower lobe-predominant emphysema (n = 796). Despite a similar amount of total emphysema, the lower-lobe group had more severe airflow obstruction at baseline and higher rates of metabolic syndrome compared with subjects with upper-lobe predominance. The group with upper-lobe predominance had greater 5-year progression of emphysema, gas trapping, and dyspnea. Differential associations with known COPD genetic risk variants were noted. Subgroups of smokers defined by upper-lobe or lower-lobe emphysema predominance exhibit different functional and radiological disease progression rates, and the upper-lobe predominant subtype shows evidence of association with known COPD genetic risk variants. These subgroups may be useful in the development of personalized treatments for COPD. Copyright © 2017 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Risk of upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding in patients taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antiplatelet agents, or anticoagulants.

PubMed

Lanas, Ángel; Carrera-Lasfuentes, Patricia; Arguedas, Yolanda; García, Santiago; Bujanda, Luis; Calvet, Xavier; Ponce, Julio; Perez-Aísa, Ángeles; Castro, Manuel; Muñoz, Maria; Sostres, Carlos; García-Rodríguez, Luis A

2015-05-01

Treatment with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or low-dose aspirin is associated with increased risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. There is little evidence on the risk of lower gastrointestinal bleeding with NSAIDs, antiplatelet agents (APAs), or anticoagulants. We aimed to quantify the relative risk (RR) of upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding associated with use of NSAIDs, APAs, or anticoagulants. We performed a case-control study that used data collected from consecutive patients hospitalized for gastrointestinal bleeding (563 upper, mean age, 63.6 ± 16.7 years and 415 lower, mean age, 70.8 ± 13.8 years), confirmed by endoscopy or other diagnostic procedures. Unhospitalized patients were used as controls (n = 1008) and matched for age, hospital, and month of admission. Drug use was considered current when taken within 7 days or less before hospitalization. RRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by unconditional logistic regression analysis. Use of anticoagulants, low-dose aspirin, and other drugs (non-aspirin-APA, 82.3% thienopiridines) was associated with upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding; the risk was 2-fold higher for anticoagulants (RR, 4.2; 95% CI, 2.9-6.2) than for low-dose aspirin (RR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.4-3.3) or other non-aspirin-APA drugs (RR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.6-2.6). NSAID use was also associated with increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and greater for upper (RR, 2.6; 95% CI, 2.0-3.5) than lower gastrointestinal bleeding (RR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.0-1.9). Use of proton pump inhibitors was associated with reduced risk of upper, but not lower, gastrointestinal bleeding. Anticoagulants, low-dose aspirin, NSAIDs, and other non-aspirin-APA drugs are associated with increased risk of upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Use of anticoagulants appears to be the strongest risk factor for gastrointestinal bleeding. Copyright © 2015 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fat accumulation in the tongue is associated with male gender, abnormal upper airway measures and whole-body adiposity

PubMed Central

Godoy, Ivan R. B.; Martinez-Salazar, Edgar Leonardo; Eajazi, Alireza; Genta, Pedro R.; Bredella, Miriam A.; Torriani, Martin

2017-01-01

Objective To examine associations between tongue adiposity with upper airway measures, whole-body adiposity and gender. We hypothesized that increased tongue adiposity is higher in males and positively associated with abnormal upper airway measures and whole-body adiposity. Methods We studied subjects who underwent whole-body positron emission tomography/computed tomography to obtain tongue attenuation (TA) values and cross-sectional area, pharyngeal length (PL) and mandibular-hyoid distance (MPH), as well as abdominal circumference, abdominal subcutaneous and visceral (VAT) adipose tissue areas, neck circumference (NC) and neck adipose tissue area. Metabolic syndrome was determined from available clinical and laboratory data. Results We identified 206 patients (104 females, 102 males) with mean age 56±17y and mean body mass index (BMI) 28±6kg/m2 (range 16–47kg/m2). Males had lower TA values (P=0.0002) and higher upper airway measures (P< 0.0001) independent of age and BMI (P<0.001). In all subjects, TA was negatively associated with upper airway measures (P<0.001). TA was negatively associated with body composition parameters (all P<0.0001), most notably with VAT (r=−0.53) and NC (r=−0.47). TA values were lower in subjects with metabolic syndrome (P<0.0001). Conclusion Increased tongue adiposity is influenced by gender and is associated with abnormal upper airway patency and body composition parameters. PMID:27733254

Fat accumulation in the tongue is associated with male gender, abnormal upper airway patency and whole-body adiposity.

PubMed

Godoy, Ivan R B; Martinez-Salazar, Edgar Leonardo; Eajazi, Alireza; Genta, Pedro R; Bredella, Miriam A; Torriani, Martin

2016-11-01

To examine associations between tongue adiposity with upper airway measures, whole-body adiposity and gender. We hypothesized that increased tongue adiposity is higher in males and positively associated with abnormal upper airway measures and whole-body adiposity. We studied subjects who underwent whole-body positron emission tomography/computed tomography to obtain tongue attenuation (TA) values and cross-sectional area, pharyngeal length (PL) and mandibular plane to hyoid distance (MPH), as well as abdominal circumference, abdominal subcutaneous and visceral (VAT) adipose tissue areas, neck circumference (NC) and neck adipose tissue area. Metabolic syndrome was determined from available clinical and laboratory data. We identified 206 patients (104 females, 102 males) with mean age 56±17years and mean body mass index (BMI) 28±6kg/m 2 (range 16-47kg/m 2 ). Males had lower TA values (P=0.0002) and higher upper airway measures (P<0.0001) independent of age and BMI (P<0.001). In all subjects, TA was negatively associated with upper airway measures (P<0.001). TA was negatively associated with body composition parameters (all P<0.0001), most notably with VAT (r=-0.53) and NC (r=-0.47). TA values were lower in subjects with metabolic syndrome (P<0.0001). Increased tongue adiposity is influenced by gender and is associated with abnormal upper airway patency and body composition parameters. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Copious amounts of hot and cold dust orbiting the main sequence a-type stars HD 131488 and HD 121191

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Melis, Carl; Zuckerman, B.; Rhee, Joseph H.

2013-11-20

We report two new dramatically dusty main sequence stars: HD 131488 (A1 V) and HD 121191 (A8 V). HD 131488 is found to have substantial amounts of dust in its terrestrial planet zone (L {sub IR}/L {sub bol} ≈ 4 × 10{sup –3}), cooler dust farther out in its planetary system, and an unusual mid-infrared spectral feature. HD 121191 shows terrestrial planet zone dust (L {sub IR}/L {sub bol} ≈ 2.3 × 10{sup –3}), hints of cooler dust, and shares the unusual mid-infrared spectral shape identified in HD 131488. These two stars belong to sub-groups of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB associationmore » and have ages of ∼10 Myr. HD 131488 and HD 121191 are the dustiest main sequence A-type stars currently known. Early-type stars that host substantial inner planetary system dust are thus far found only within the age range of 5-20 Myr.« less

The Hard X-ray Emission from Scorpius X-1 as Seen by INTEGRAL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sturner, S. J.; Shrader, C. R.; Weidenspointner, G.

2008-01-01

We present the results of our hard X-ray and gamma-ray study of the LMXB Sco X-1 utilizing INTEGRAL data as well as contemporaneous RXTE PCA data. We have concentrated on investigating the hard X-ray spectral properties of Sco X-1 including the nature of the high-energy, nonthermal component of the spectrum and its possible correlations with the location of the source on the X-ray color-color diagram. We find that Sco X-1 has two distinct spectral when the 20-40 keV count rate is greater than 140 counts/second. One state is a hard state which exhibits a significant high-energy, powerlaw tail to the lower energy thermal spectrum. The other state shows no evidence for a powerlaw tail whatsoever. We found suggestive evidence for a correlation of these hard and soft high-energy states with the position of Sco X-1 on the low-energy X-ray color-color diagram.

Association of upper gastrointestinal symptoms with functional and clinical charateristics in elderly.

PubMed

Pilotto, Alberto; Maggi, Stefania; Noale, Marianna; Franceschi, Marilisa; Parisi, Giancarlo; Crepaldi, Gaetano

2011-07-07

To evaluate the prevalence of upper gastrointestinal symptoms and their association with clinical and functional characteristics in elderly outpatients. The study involved 3238 outpatients ≥ 60 years consecutively enrolled by 107 general practitioners. Information on social, behavioral and demographic characteristics, function in the activities of daily living (ADL), co-morbidities and drug use were collected by a structured interview. Upper gastrointestinal symptom data were collected by the 15-items upper gastro-intestinal symptom questionnaire for the elderly, a validated diagnostic tool which includes the following five symptom clusters: (1) abdominal pain syndrome; (2) reflux syndrome; (3) indigestion syndrome; (4) bleeding; and (5) non-specific symptoms. Presence and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms were analyzed through a logistic regression model. 3100 subjects were included in the final analysis. The overall prevalence of upper gastrointestinal symptoms was 43.0%, i.e. cluster (1) 13.9%, (2) 21.9%, (3) 30.2%, (4) 1.2%, and (5) 4.5%. Upper gastrointestinal symptoms were more frequently reported by females (P < 0.0001), with high number of co-morbidities (P < 0.0001), who were taking higher number of drugs (P < 0.0001) and needed assistance in the ADL. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that female sex (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.17-1.64), disability in the ADL (OR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.12-1.93), smoking habit (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.00-1.65), and body mass index (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.04-1.08), as well as the presence of upper (OR = 3.01, 95% CI: 2.52-3.60) and lower gastroenterological diseases (OR = 2.25, 95%CI: 1.70-2.97), psychiatric (OR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.28-2.01) and respiratory diseases (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.01-1.54) were significantly associated with the presence of upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Functional and clinical characteristics are associated with upper gastrointestinal symptoms. A multidimensional comprehensive evaluation may be useful when approaching upper gastrointestinal symptoms in older subjects.

An interpretation of landscape structure from historic and present land cover data in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Treesearch

Janet Silbernagel; Jiquan Chen; Margaret R. Gale; Kurt S. Pregitzer; John Probst

1997-01-01

Compares historic and present landscape structure among four landtype association groups in Upper Michigan. Provides an example of a landtype association framework for assessing landscape composition and pattern.

Upper tract urothelial recurrence following radical cystectomy for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder: an analysis of 1,069 patients with 10-year followup.

PubMed

Sanderson, Kristin M; Cai, Jie; Miranda, Gustavo; Skinner, Donald G; Stein, John P

2007-06-01

Risk factors for upper tract recurrence following radical cystectomy for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder are not yet well-defined. We reviewed our population of patients who underwent radical cystectomy to identify prognostic factors and clinical outcomes associated with upper tract recurrence. From our prospective database of 1,359 patients who underwent radical cystectomy we identified 1,069 patients treated for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder between January 1985 and December 2001. Univariate analysis was completed to determine factors predictive of upper tract recurrence. A total of 853 men and 216 women were followed for a median of 10.3 years (maximum 18.5). There were 27 (2.5%) upper tract recurrences diagnosed at a median of 3.3 years (range 0.4 to 9.3). Only urethral tumor involvement was predictive of upper tract recurrence. In men superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the prostatic urethra was associated with an increased risk of upper tract recurrence compared with prostatic stromal invasion or absence of prostatic transitional cell carcinoma (p <0.01). In women urethral transitional cell carcinoma was associated with an increased risk of upper tract recurrence (p = 0.01). Despite routine surveillance 78% of upper tract recurrence was detected after development of symptoms. Median survival following upper tract recurrence was 1.7 years (range 0.2 to 8.8). Detection of asymptomatic upper tract recurrence via surveillance did not predict lower nephroureterectomy tumor stage, absence of lymph node metastases or improved survival. Patients with bladder cancer are at lifelong risk for late oncological recurrence in the upper tract urothelium. Patients with evidence of tumor involvement within the urethra are at highest risk. Surveillance regimens frequently fail to detect tumors before symptoms develop. However, radical nephroureterectomy can provide prolonged survival.

Survey of upper extremity injuries among martial arts participants.

PubMed

Diesselhorst, Matthew M; Rayan, Ghazi M; Pasque, Charles B; Peyton Holder, R

2013-01-01

To survey participants at various experience levels of different martial arts (MA) about upper extremity injuries sustained during training and fighting. A 21-s question survey was designed and utilised. The survey was divided into four groups (Demographics, Injury Description, Injury Mechanism, and Miscellaneous information) to gain knowledge about upper extremity injuries sustained during martial arts participation. Chi-square testing was utilised to assess for significant associations. Males comprised 81% of respondents. Involvement in multiple forms of MA was the most prevalent (38%). The hand/wrist was the most common area injured (53%), followed by the shoulder/upper arm (27%) and the forearm/elbow (19%). Joint sprains/muscle strains were the most frequent injuries reported overall (47%), followed by abrasions/bruises (26%). Dislocations of the upper extremity were reported by 47% of participants while fractures occurred in 39%. Surgeries were required for 30% of participants. Females were less likely to require surgery and more likely to have shoulder and elbow injuries. Males were more likely to have hand injuries. Participants of Karate and Tae Kwon Do were more likely to have injuries to their hands, while participants of multiple forms were more likely to sustain injuries to their shoulders/upper arms and more likely to develop chronic upper extremity symptoms. With advanced level of training the likelihood of developing chronic upper extremity symptoms increases, and multiple surgeries were required. Hand protection was associated with a lower risk of hand injuries. Martial arts can be associated with substantial upper extremity injuries that may require surgery and extended time away from participation. Injuries may result in chronic upper extremity symptoms. Hand protection is important for reducing injuries to the hand and wrist.

Physical examination of upper extremity compressive neuropathies.

PubMed

Popinchalk, Samuel P; Schaffer, Alyssa A

2012-10-01

A thorough history and physical examination are vital to the assessment of upper extremity compressive neuropathies. This article summarizes relevant anatomy and physical examination findings associated with upper extremity compressive neuropathies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Prevalence of upper limb disorders among female librarians.

PubMed

Pandy, R

2013-09-01

Work as a librarian involves exposure to potential risk factors for developing upper limb disorders. The prevalence of upper limb symptoms has, however, not previously been assessed in this occupational group. To estimate the 7-day and annual prevalence of self-reported neck and upper limb symptoms in librarians and to examine associations with specific tasks and ergonomic risk factors. A cross-sectional study using components of the standardized Nordic questionnaire. The study population consisted of librarians employed by a large local authority, and data collection was by means of a self-administered questionnaire. from studies on keyboard workers and on the general population were used as comparators. The 7-day prevalence of self-reported neck and upper limb pain in female librarians was 42% (95% confidence interval (CI) 33.7-50.5) and the annual prevalence was 65% (95% CI 56.6-72.8). The prevalence of reported wrist and hand pain increased with increased working involving a wide thumb-index span (P < 0.05) with a significant linear trend in prevalence with increasing exposure (P < 0.01). There was a strong association between reporting hand and/or wrist pain and awareness of work-related upper limb disorder (P < 0.05). The annual prevalence of self-reported upper limb symptoms among female librarians was high, but there was insufficient evidence to confirm whether the prevalence was higher than in the general population or among keyboard workers. Working with a wide thumb-index span was associated with reporting upper limb symptoms.

Prevalence and Associated Factors for Musculoskeletal Pain and Disability Among Spanish Music Conservatory Students.

PubMed

Rodríguez-Romero, Beatriz; Pérez-Valiño, Coral; Ageitos-Alonso, Beatriz; Pértega-Díaz, Sonia

2016-12-01

To assess the prevalence of and factors associated with musculoskeletal pain (MSP) and neck and upper limb disability among music conservatory students. An observational study in two Spanish conservatories, investigating a total of 206 students, administered the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, visual analog scale for pain intensity, Neck Disability Index, DASH, and SF-36. Demographic and lifestyle characteristics and musical performance variables were recorded. Regression models were performed to identify variables associated with MSP for the four most affected anatomical regions and with neck and upper limb disability. The locations with the highest prevalence of MSP were the neck, upper back, shoulders, and lower back. Mild disability affected 47% of participants in the neck and 31% in the upper limbs. Mental health (SF-36) was below the average for the general population (45.5±10.2). Women were more likely to suffer neck pain (odds ratio [OR] 1.1-5.2), lower back pain (OR 1.7-8.7), and neck disability (B 0.6-7.8). The risk for shoulder pain was higher in those who played for more hours (OR 1.7-24.7) and lower among those who performed physical activity (OR 0.23-1.00). Disability in the neck (B -0.3) and upper limbs (B -0.4) was associated with poorer mental health (SF-36). MSP is highly prevalent in music students. Neck and upper limb disability were slight to moderate and both were associated with poorer mental health. The main factors associated with MSP were being female, hours spent practicing, and physical activity. Physical and psychological factors should be taken into account in the prevention of MSP in student-musicians.

The locations of recent supernovae near the Sun from modelling (60)Fe transport.

PubMed

Breitschwerdt, D; Feige, J; Schulreich, M M; de Avillez, M A; Dettbarn, C; Fuchs, B

2016-04-07

The signature of (60)Fe in deep-sea crusts indicates that one or more supernovae exploded in the solar neighbourhood about 2.2 million years ago. Recent isotopic analysis is consistent with a core-collapse or electron-capture supernova that occurred 60 to 130 parsecs from the Sun. Moreover, peculiarities in the cosmic ray spectrum point to a nearby supernova about two million years ago. The Local Bubble of hot, diffuse plasma, in which the Solar System is embedded, originated from 14 to 20 supernovae within a moving group, whose surviving members are now in the Scorpius-Centaurus stellar association. Here we report calculations of the most probable trajectories and masses of the supernova progenitors, and hence their explosion times and sites. The (60)Fe signal arises from two supernovae at distances between 90 and 100 parsecs. The closest occurred 2.3 million years ago at present-day galactic coordinates l = 327°, b = 11°, and the second-closest exploded about 1.5 million years ago at l = 343°, b = 25°, with masses of 9.2 and 8.8 times the solar mass, respectively. The remaining supernovae, which formed the Local Bubble, contribute to a smaller extent because they happened at larger distances and longer ago ((60)Fe has a half-life of 2.6 million years). There are uncertainties relating to the nucleosynthesis yields and the loss of (60)Fe during transport, but they do not influence the relative distribution of (60)Fe in the crust layers, and therefore our model reproduces the measured relative abundances very well.

Association of upper gastrointestinal symptoms with functional and clinical charateristics in elderly

PubMed Central

Pilotto, Alberto; Maggi, Stefania; Noale, Marianna; Franceschi, Marilisa; Parisi, Giancarlo; Crepaldi, Gaetano

2011-01-01

AIM: To evaluate the prevalence of upper gastrointestinal symptoms and their association with clinical and functional characteristics in elderly outpatients. METHODS: The study involved 3238 outpatients ≥ 60 years consecutively enrolled by 107 general practitioners. Information on social, behavioral and demographic characteristics, function in the activities of daily living (ADL), co-morbidities and drug use were collected by a structured interview. Upper gastrointestinal symptom data were collected by the 15-items upper gastro-intestinal symptom questionnaire for the elderly, a validated diagnostic tool which includes the following five symptom clusters: (1) abdominal pain syndrome; (2) reflux syndrome; (3) indigestion syndrome; (4) bleeding; and (5) non-specific symptoms. Presence and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms were analyzed through a logistic regression model. RESULTS: 3100 subjects were included in the final analysis. The overall prevalence of upper gastrointestinal symptoms was 43.0%, i.e. cluster (1) 13.9%, (2) 21.9%, (3) 30.2%, (4) 1.2%, and (5) 4.5%. Upper gastrointestinal symptoms were more frequently reported by females (P < 0.0001), with high number of co-morbidities (P < 0.0001), who were taking higher number of drugs (P < 0.0001) and needed assistance in the ADL. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that female sex (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.17-1.64), disability in the ADL (OR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.12-1.93), smoking habit (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.00-1.65), and body mass index (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.04-1.08), as well as the presence of upper (OR = 3.01, 95% CI: 2.52-3.60) and lower gastroenterological diseases (OR = 2.25, 95%CI: 1.70-2.97), psychiatric (OR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.28-2.01) and respiratory diseases (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.01-1.54) were significantly associated with the presence of upper gastrointestinal symptoms. CONCLUSION: Functional and clinical characteristics are associated with upper gastrointestinal symptoms. A multidimensional comprehensive evaluation may be useful when approaching upper gastrointestinal symptoms in older subjects. PMID:21799648

Quantifying Contributions of the Cricopharyngeus to Upper Esophageal Sphincter Pressure Changes by Means of Intramuscular Electromyography and High-Resolution Manometry

PubMed Central

Jones, Corinne A.; Hammer, Michael J.; Hoffman, Matthew R.; McCulloch, Timothy M.

2014-01-01

Objectives We sought to determine whether the association between cricopharyngeus muscle activity and upper esophageal sphincter pressure may change in a task-dependent fashion. We hypothesized that more automated tasks related to swallow or airway protection would yield a stronger association than would more volitional tasks related to tidal breathing or voice production. Methods Six healthy adult subjects underwent simultaneous intramuscular electromyography of the cricopharyngeus muscle and high-resolution manometry of the upper esophageal sphincter. Correlation coefficients were calculated to characterize the association between the time-linked series. Results Cricopharyngeus muscle activity was most strongly associated with upper esophageal sphincter pressure during swallow and effortful exhalation tasks (r = 0.77 and 0.79, respectively; P < .01). The association was also less variable during swallow and effortful exhalation. Conclusions These findings suggest a greater coupling for the more automatic tasks, and may suggest less coupling and more flexibility for the more volitional, voice-related tasks. These findings support the important role of central patterning for respiratory- and swallow-related tasks. PMID:24633943

The prevalence of upper respiratory symptoms in a cohort of adults presenting with symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.

PubMed

Amarasiri, D L; Pathmeswaran, A; Dassanayake, A S; de Silva, A P; Adikari, M D; Sanjeewa, P A; Jayaratne, A; de Silva, H J

2016-06-01

Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is the pathological reflux of gastric contents into the oesophagus. The oesophagus and the upper respiratory tract have a common origin from the foregut. There is increasing evidence for multiple associations of GORD with the upper respiratory tract. To study the presence of and association of upper respiratory symptoms (URS) with GORD. Seventy adults scoring ≥12.5 on a previously validated GORD symptom score (GORD patients) and 70 healthy controls who had infrequent GORD symptoms or no upper gastro-intestinal complaints completed a pre-tested URS questionnaire on the frequency of 14 URS in 5 categories (laryngeal, nasal, pharyngeal, sinusal and aural). All GORD patients underwent upper gastro-intestinal endoscopy. The calculated URS score was correlated against the GORD symptom score and endoscopy findings. URS scores and individual symptom scores were higher in GORD patients compared to controls (mean ± SE, 4.7 ± 4.0; 1.9 ± 2.3). Individuals with higher GORD symptom scores reported more frequent URS. Pharyngeal symptoms had the highest correlation with the GORD symptom score (r=0.507, p<0.001). The presence of oeso-phagitis did not seem to influence the frequency of reporting URS. Upper respiratory symptoms are common in individuals with GORD symptoms though there appears to be no association with oesophageal mucosal damage.

Association Between Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Genotype and Upper Extremity Motor Outcome After Stroke.

PubMed

Chang, Won Hyuk; Park, Eunhee; Lee, Jungsoo; Lee, Ahee; Kim, Yun-Hee

2017-06-01

The identification of intrinsic factors for predicting upper extremity motor outcome could aid the design of individualized treatment plans in stroke rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to identify prognostic factors, including intrinsic genetic factors, for upper extremity motor outcome in patients with subacute stroke. A total of 97 patients with subacute stroke were enrolled. Upper limb motor impairment was scored according to the upper limb of Fugl-Meyer assessment score at 3 months after stroke. The prediction of upper extremity motor outcome at 3 months was modeled using various factors that could potentially influence this impairment, including patient characteristics, baseline upper extremity motor impairment, functional and structural integrity of the corticospinal tract, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor genotype. Multivariate ordinal logistic regression models were used to identify the significance of each factor. The independent predictors of motor outcome at 3 months were baseline upper extremity motor impairment, age, stroke type, and corticospinal tract functional integrity in all stroke patients. However, in the group with severe motor impairment at baseline (upper limb score of Fugl-Meyer assessment <25), the number of Met alleles in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor genotype was also an independent predictor of upper extremity motor outcome 3 months after stroke. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor genotype may be a potentially useful predictor of upper extremity motor outcome in patients with subacute stroke with severe baseline motor involvement. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

Upper Extremity Deep Vein Thromboses: The Bowler and the Barista.

PubMed

Stake, Seth; du Breuil, Anne L; Close, Jeremy

2016-01-01

Effort thrombosis of the upper extremity refers to a deep venous thrombosis of the upper extremity resulting from repetitive activity of the upper limb. Most cases of effort thrombosis occur in young elite athletes with strenuous upper extremity activity. This article reports two cases who both developed upper extremity deep vein thromboses, the first being a 67-year-old bowler and the second a 25-year-old barista, and illustrates that effort thrombosis should be included in the differential diagnosis in any patient with symptoms concerning DVT associated with repetitive activity. A literature review explores the recommended therapies for upper extremity deep vein thromboses.

Upper Extremity Deep Vein Thromboses: The Bowler and the Barista

PubMed Central

du Breuil, Anne L.; Close, Jeremy

2016-01-01

Effort thrombosis of the upper extremity refers to a deep venous thrombosis of the upper extremity resulting from repetitive activity of the upper limb. Most cases of effort thrombosis occur in young elite athletes with strenuous upper extremity activity. This article reports two cases who both developed upper extremity deep vein thromboses, the first being a 67-year-old bowler and the second a 25-year-old barista, and illustrates that effort thrombosis should be included in the differential diagnosis in any patient with symptoms concerning DVT associated with repetitive activity. A literature review explores the recommended therapies for upper extremity deep vein thromboses. PMID:27800207

Association of head trauma with cervical spine injury, spinal cord injury, or both.

PubMed

Iida, H; Tachibana, S; Kitahara, T; Horiike, S; Ohwada, T; Fujii, K

1999-03-01

Links between cervical spine and/or spinal cord injuries and head trauma have not been reported in detail. 188 patients with cervical spine and/or spinal cord injury were divided into two groups, i.e., with upper cervical and mid-lower cervical injury, and compared for head injury. Associated head trauma was investigated in 188 patients with cervical spine and/or spinal cord injuries; 35% had moderate or severe injuries. Brain damage was more frequently observed in patients with upper cervical injury than in those with mid to lower cervical injury. Those patients with upper cervical injury appeared to have an elevated risk of suffering skull base fractures, traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, and contusional hemotoma. Approximately one third of patients with cervical spine and/or spinal cord injuries had moderate or severe head injuries. Brain damage was more frequently associated with upper cervical injury. Those patients with upper cervical injury are at greater risk of suffering from skull base fractures and severe intracranial hematomas than those with mid to lower cervical injury.

Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Burden Is Associated with Motor Performance of Lower and Upper Extremities in Community-Dwelling Populations

PubMed Central

Su, Ning; Zhai, Fei-Fei; Zhou, Li-Xin; Ni, Jun; Yao, Ming; Li, Ming-Li; Jin, Zheng-Yu; Gong, Gao-Lang; Zhang, Shu-Yang; Cui, Li-Ying; Tian, Feng; Zhu, Yi-Cheng

2017-01-01

Objective: To investigate the correlation between cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) burden and motor performance of lower and upper extremities in community-dwelling populations. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis on 770 participants enrolled in the Shunyi study, which is a population-based cohort study. CSVD burden, including white matter hyperintensities (WMH), lacunes, cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), perivascular spaces (PVS), and brain atrophy were measured using 3T magnetic resonance imaging. All participants underwent quantitative motor assessment of lower and upper extremities, which included 3-m walking speed, 5-repeat chair-stand time, 10-repeat pronation–supination time, and 10-repeat finger-tapping time. Data on demographic characteristics, vascular risk factors, and cognitive functions were collected. General linear model analysis was performed to identify potential correlations between motor performance measures and imaging markers of CSVD after controlling for confounding factors. Results: For motor performance of the lower extremities, WMH was negatively associated with gait speed (standardized β = -0.092, p = 0.022) and positively associated with chair-stand time (standardized β = 0.153, p < 0.0001, surviving FDR correction). For motor performance of the upper extremities, pronation–supination time was positively associated with WMH (standardized β = 0.155, p < 0.0001, surviving FDR correction) and negatively with brain parenchymal fraction (BPF; standardized β = -0.125, p = 0.011, surviving FDR correction). Only BPF was found to be negatively associated with finger-tapping time (standardized β = -0.123, p = 0.012). However, lacunes, CMBs, or PVS were not found to be associated with motor performance of lower or upper extremities in multivariable analysis. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that cerebral microstructural changes related to CSVD may affect motor performance of both lower and upper extremities. WMH and brain atrophy are most strongly associated with motor function deterioration in community-dwelling populations. PMID:29021757

Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Burden Is Associated with Motor Performance of Lower and Upper Extremities in Community-Dwelling Populations.

PubMed

Su, Ning; Zhai, Fei-Fei; Zhou, Li-Xin; Ni, Jun; Yao, Ming; Li, Ming-Li; Jin, Zheng-Yu; Gong, Gao-Lang; Zhang, Shu-Yang; Cui, Li-Ying; Tian, Feng; Zhu, Yi-Cheng

2017-01-01

Objective: To investigate the correlation between cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) burden and motor performance of lower and upper extremities in community-dwelling populations. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis on 770 participants enrolled in the Shunyi study, which is a population-based cohort study. CSVD burden, including white matter hyperintensities (WMH), lacunes, cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), perivascular spaces (PVS), and brain atrophy were measured using 3T magnetic resonance imaging. All participants underwent quantitative motor assessment of lower and upper extremities, which included 3-m walking speed, 5-repeat chair-stand time, 10-repeat pronation-supination time, and 10-repeat finger-tapping time. Data on demographic characteristics, vascular risk factors, and cognitive functions were collected. General linear model analysis was performed to identify potential correlations between motor performance measures and imaging markers of CSVD after controlling for confounding factors. Results: For motor performance of the lower extremities, WMH was negatively associated with gait speed (standardized β = -0.092, p = 0.022) and positively associated with chair-stand time (standardized β = 0.153, p < 0.0001, surviving FDR correction). For motor performance of the upper extremities, pronation-supination time was positively associated with WMH (standardized β = 0.155, p < 0.0001, surviving FDR correction) and negatively with brain parenchymal fraction (BPF; standardized β = -0.125, p = 0.011, surviving FDR correction). Only BPF was found to be negatively associated with finger-tapping time (standardized β = -0.123, p = 0.012). However, lacunes, CMBs, or PVS were not found to be associated with motor performance of lower or upper extremities in multivariable analysis. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that cerebral microstructural changes related to CSVD may affect motor performance of both lower and upper extremities. WMH and brain atrophy are most strongly associated with motor function deterioration in community-dwelling populations.

Associations between Perceived Teaching Behaviours and Affect in Upper Elementary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnard, Allison D.; Adelson, Jill L.; Pössel, Patrick

2017-01-01

We explored the associations between student-perceived teaching behaviours and negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) in upper elementary age students, both before and after controlling for perceived parenting behaviours. The Teaching Behaviour Questionnaire, the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule…

Upper respiratory tract infection in children, domestic temperatures, and humidity.

PubMed Central

Ross, A; Collins, M; Sanders, C

1990-01-01

STUDY OBJECTIVE--The aim of the study was to seek for a possible association between the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections and air temperature and humidity in the home. DESIGN--Recordings of temperature and relative humidity were made in living rooms and children's bedrooms over a six month period and related to incidence of upper respiratory tract infection. SETTING--The study was carried out in one general practice of 10,000 patients. PATIENTS--297 children aged 24-59 months were studied, selected in random order from the practice age-sex register. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS--Temperature and humidity recordings were made with thermohygrograph recorders over six days. Upper respiratory tract infections were recorded (a) retrospectively over the previous 12 months, and (b) during the study period. Past history of acute otitis media and recent family history of respiratory infection were also obtained. No significant association was found between the variables, although the bedrooms of children with reported upper respiratory tract infections were cooler overnight than those of non-infected children (mean difference 0.8 degrees C, 95% confidence limits 0.7 degrees C). No association was found between reported or recorded upper respiratory tract infections and age or type of home, family size, level of occupancy, social class, or smoking habits. Only 15 children (5%) were identified by their parents as having had asthma, but 58 (19.5%) had had a "wheezy chest". A greater proportion of children who wheezed slept in cooler bedrooms, had gas fires rather than central heating, and had more smokers in the house. CONCLUSIONS--No association between upper respiratory tract infection and domestic temperature or humidity levels could be shown in this study. Since dampness is repeatedly presented as a health risk, further study is required. PMID:2370503

Chronic pain associated with upper-limb loss.

PubMed

Hanley, Marisol A; Ehde, Dawn M; Jensen, Mark; Czerniecki, Joseph; Smith, Douglas G; Robinson, Lawrence R

2009-09-01

To describe the prevalence, intensity, and functional impact of the following types of pain associated with upper-limb loss: phantom limb, residual limb, back, neck, and nonamputated-limb pain. Cross-sectional survey; 104 respondents with upper-limb loss at least 6 months postamputation completed measures of pain intensity, interference, disability, and health-related quality-of-life. Nearly all (90%) of the respondents reported pain, with 76% reporting more than one pain type. Phantom-limb pain and residual-limb pain were the most prevalent (79% and 71%, respectively), followed by back (52%), neck (43%), and nonamputated-limb pain (33%). Although nonamputated-limb pain was least prevalent, it was reported to cause the highest levels of interference and pain-related disability days. Self-reported quality-of-life was significantly lower for individuals with each type of pain compared with those without any pain. Age, time since amputation, and cause of amputation were not associated with pain. In addition to pain in the phantom and residual limb, back, neck, and nonamputated-limb pain are also common after upper-limb loss. All of these pain types are associated with significant disability and activity interference for some individuals, suggesting that assessment of multiple pain types in persons with upper-limb amputation may be important.

Association between anthropometry and upper-body strength qualities with sprint paddling performance in competitive wave surfers.

PubMed

Sheppard, Jeremy M; McNamara, Phil; Osborne, Mark; Andrews, Mark; Oliveira Borges, Thiago; Walshe, Phil; Chapman, Dale W

2012-12-01

This study aimed to evaluate the potential association with anthropometry and upper-body pulling strength with sprint kinematics of competitive surfers. Ten competitive male surfers (23.9 ± 6.8 years, 177.0 ± 6.5 cm, 72.2 ± 2.4 kg) were assessed for stature, mass, arm span, ∑ 7 site skinfold thickness, pronated pull-up strength, and sprint paddling performance from a stationary start to 15 m. Pearson correlation analysis, and independent t-tests were used to compare potential differences between the slower and faster group of sprint paddlers. Strong associations were found between relative (total kilograms lifted per athlete mass) upper-body pulling strength and sprint paddling time to 5, 10, and 15 m, and peak sprint paddling velocity (r = 0.94, 0.93, 0.88, 0.66, respectively, p < 0.05) and relative upper-body pulling strength was found to be superior (p < 0.05) in the faster group, with large effect (d = 1.88). The results of this study demonstrate a strong association between relative upper-body pulling strength and sprint paddling ability in surfers. Strength and conditioning coaches working with competitive surfers should implement strength training with surfers, including an emphasis on developing relative strength, because this may have a strong influence on sprint paddling performance.

Antiplatelet agents and/or anticoagulants are not associated with worse outcome following nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

PubMed

Teles-Sampaio, Elvira; Maia, Luís; Salgueiro, Paulo; Marcos-Pinto, Ricardo; Dinis-Ribeiro, Mário; Pedroto, Isabel

2016-11-01

Nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding emerges as a major complication of using antiplatelet agents and/or anticoagulants and represents a clinical challenge in patients undergoing these therapies. To characterize patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding related to antithrombotics and their management, and to determine clinical predictors of adverse outcomes. Retrospective cohort of adults who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy after nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding from 2010 to 2012. The outcomes were compared between patients exposed and not exposed to antithrombotics. Five hundred and forty-eight patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (67% men; mean age 66.5 ± 16.4 years) were included, of which 43% received antithrombotics. Most patients had comorbidities. Peptic ulcer was the main diagnosis and endoscopic therapy was performed in 46% of cases. The 30-day mortality rate was 7.7% (n = 42), and 36% were bleeding-related. The recurrence rate was 9% and 14% of patients with initial endoscopic treatment needed endoscopic retreatment. There were no significant differences between the exposed and non-exposed groups in most outcomes. Co-morbidities, hemodynamic instability, high Rockall score, low hemoglobin (7.76 ± 2.72 g/dL) and higher international normalized ratio (1.63 ± 1.13) were associated significantly with mortality in a univariate analysis. Adverse outcomes were not associated with antithrombotic use. The management of nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding constitutes a challenge to clinical performance optimization and clinical cooperation.

Vascular Accesses for Haemodialysis in the Upper Arm Cause Greater Reduction in the Carotid-Brachial Stiffness than Those in the Forearm: Study of Gender Differences

PubMed Central

Bia, Daniel; Cabrera-Fischer, Edmundo I.; Zócalo, Yanina; Galli, Cintia; Graf, Sebastián; Valtuille, Rodolfo; Pérez-Cámpos, Héctor; Saldías, María; Álvarez, Inés; Armentano, Ricardo L.

2012-01-01

Purpose. To evaluate in chronically haemodialysed patients (CHPs), if: (1) the vascular access (VA) position (upper arm or forearm) is associated with differential changes in upper limb arterial stiffness; (2) differences in arterial stiffness exist between genders associated with the VA; (3) the vascular substitute (VS) of choice, in biomechanical terms, depends on the previous VA location and CHP gender. Methods. 38 CHPs (18 males; VA in upper arm: 18) were studied. Left and right carotid-brachial pulse wave velocity (PWVc-b) was measured. In in vitro studies, PWV was obtained in ePTFE prostheses and in several arterial and venous homografts obtained from donors. The biomechanical mismatch (BM) between CHP native vessel (NV) and VS was calculated. Results/Conclusions. PWVc-b in upper limbs with VA was lower than in the intact contralateral limbs (P < 0.05), and differences were higher (P < 0.05) when the VA was performed in the upper arm. Differences between PWVc-b in upper limbs with VA (in the upper arm) with respect to intact upper limbs were higher (P < 0.05) in males. Independently of the region in which the VA was performed, the homograft that ensured the minimal BM was the brachial artery. The BM was highly dependent on gender and the location in the upper limb in which the VA was performed. PMID:22567282

Quantile regression analyses of associated factors for body mass index in Korean adolescents.

PubMed

Kim, T H; Lee, E K; Han, E

2015-05-01

This study examined the influence of home and school environments, and individual health-risk behaviours on body weight outcomes in Korean adolescents. This was a cross-sectional observational study. Quantile regression models to explore heterogeneity in the association of specific factors with body mass index (BMI) over the entire conditional BMI distribution was used. A nationally representative web-based survey for youths was used. Paternal education level of college or more education was associated with lower BMI for girls, whereas college or more education of mothers was associated with higher BMI for boys; for both, the magnitude of association became larger at the upper quantiles of the conditional BMI distribution. Girls with good family economic status were more likely to have higher BMIs than those with average family economic status, particularly at the upper quantile of the conditional BMI distribution. Attending a co-ed school was associated with lower BMI for both genders with a larger association at the upper quantiles. Substantial screen time for TV watching, video games, or internet surfing was associated with a higher BMI with a larger association at the upper quantiles for both girls and boys. Dental prevention was negatively associated with BMI, whereas suicide consideration was positively associated with BMIs of both genders with a larger association at a higher quantile. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at behavioural changes and positive parental roles are needed to effectively address high adolescent BMI. Copyright © 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Hard X-Ray Emission from Scorpius X-1 Seen by INTEGRAL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sturner, Steve; Shrader, C. R.

2008-01-01

We present the results of our hard X-ray and gamma-ray study of the LMXB Sco X-1 utilizing INTEGRAL data as well as contemporaneous RXTE PCA data. We have investigated the hard X-ray spectral properties of Sco X-1 including the nature of the high-energy, nonthermal component and its possible correlations with the location of the source on the soft X-ray color-color diagram. We find that Sco X-1 follows two distinct spectral tracks when the 20-40 keV count rate is greater than 130 counts/second. One state is a hard state which exhibits a significant high-energy, powerlaw tail to the lower energy thermal spectrum. The other state shows a much less significant high-energy component. We found suggestive evidence for a correlation of these hard and soft high-energy states with the position of Sco X-1 on the low-energy X-ray color-color diagram. We have searched for similar behavior in 2 other Z sources: GX 17+2 and GX 5-1 with negative results.

A heavy-metal home

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-05-30

This 10.5-billion-year-old globular cluster, NGC 6496, is home to heavy-metal stars of a celestial kind! The stars comprising this spectacular spherical cluster are enriched with much higher proportions of metals — elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, are in astronomy curiously known as metals — than stars found in similar clusters. A handful of these high-metallicity stars are also variable stars, meaning that their brightness fluctuates over time. NGC 6496 hosts a selection of long-period variables — giant pulsating stars whose brightness can take up to, and even over, a thousand days to change — and short-period eclipsing binaries, which dim when eclipsed by a stellar companion. The nature of the variability of these stars can reveal important information about their mass, radius, luminosity, temperature, composition, and evolution, providing astronomers with measurements that would be difficult or even impossible to obtain through other methods. NGC 6496 was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. The cluster resides at about 35 000 light-years away in the southern constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion).

Analysis of interstellar cloud structure based on IRAS images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scalo, John M.

1992-01-01

The goal of this project was to develop new tools for the analysis of the structure of densely sampled maps of interstellar star-forming regions. A particular emphasis was on the recognition and characterization of nested hierarchical structure and fractal irregularity, and their relation to the level of star formation activity. The panoramic IRAS images provided data with the required range in spatial scale, greater than a factor of 100, and in column density, greater than a factor of 50. In order to construct densely sampled column density maps of star-forming clouds, column density images of four nearby cloud complexes were constructed from IRAS data. The regions have various degrees of star formation activity, and most of them have probably not been affected much by the disruptive effects of young massive stars. The largest region, the Scorpius-Ophiuchus cloud complex, covers about 1000 square degrees (it was subdivided into a few smaller regions for analysis). Much of the work during the early part of the project focused on an 80 square degree region in the core of the Taurus complex, a well-studied region of low-mass star formation.

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding - state of the art.

PubMed

Szura, Mirosław; Pasternak, Artur

2014-01-01

Upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is a condition requiring immediate medical intervention, with high associated mortality exceeding 10%. The most common cause of upper GI bleeding is peptic ulcer disease, which largely corresponds to the intake of NSAIDs and Helicobacter pylori infection. Endoscopy is the essential tool for the diagnosis and treatment of active upper GI hemorrhage. Endoscopic therapy together with proton pump inhibitors and eradication of Helicobacter pylori significantly reduces rebleeding rates, mortality and number of emergency surgical interventions. This paper presents contemporary data on the diagnosis and treatment of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Duplex sonography for detection of deep vein thrombosis of upper extremities: a 13-year experience.

PubMed

Chung, Amy S Y; Luk, W H; Lo, Adrian X N; Lo, C F

2015-04-01

To determine the prevalence and characteristics of sonographically evident upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis in symptomatic Chinese patients and identify its associated risk factors. Regional hospital, Hong Kong. Data on patients undergoing upper-extremity venous sonography examinations during a 13-year period from November 1999 to October 2012 were retrieved. Variables including age, sex, history of smoking, history of lower-extremity deep vein thrombosis, major surgery within 30 days, immobilisation within 30 days, cancer (history of malignancy), associated central venous or indwelling catheter, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, sepsis within 30 days, and stroke within 30 days were tested using binary logistic regression to understand the risk factors for upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis. The presence of upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis identified. Overall, 213 patients with upper-extremity sonography were identified. Of these patients, 29 (13.6%) had upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis. The proportion of upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis using initial ultrasound was 0.26% of all deep vein thrombosis ultrasound requests. Upper limb swelling was the most common presentation seen in a total of 206 (96.7%) patients. Smoking (37.9%), history of cancer (65.5%), and hypertension (27.6%) were the more prevalent conditions among patients in the upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis-positive group. No statistically significant predictor of upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis was noted if all variables were included. After backward stepwise logistic regression, the final model was left with only age (P=0.119), female gender (P=0.114), and history of malignancy (P=0.024) as independent variables. History of malignancy remained predictive of upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis. Upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis is uncommon among symptomatic Chinese population. The most common sign is swelling and the major risk factor for upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis identified in this study is malignancy.

Neck/upper back and low back pain in parents and their adult offspring: Family linkage data from the Norwegian HUNT Study.

PubMed

Lier, R; Nilsen, T I L; Vasseljen, O; Mork, P J

2015-07-01

Chronic pain in the neck and low back is highly prevalent. Although heritable components have been identified, knowledge about generational transmission of spinal pain between parents and their adult offspring is sparse. This study examined the intergenerational association of spinal pain using data from 11,081 parent-offspring trios participating in the population-based HUNT Study in Norway. Logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for offspring spinal pain associated with parental spinal pain. In total, 3654 (33%) offspring reported spinal pain at participation. Maternal and paternal spinal pain was consistently associated with higher ORs for offspring spinal pain. The results suggest a slightly stronger association for parental multilevel spinal pain (i.e., both neck/upper back pain and low back pain) than for pain localized to the neck/upper back or low back. Multilevel spinal pain in both parents was associated with ORs of 2.6 (95% CI, 2.1-3.3), 2.4 (95% CI, 1.9-3.1) and 3.1 (95% CI, 2.2-4.4) for offspring neck/upper back, low back and multilevel spinal pain, respectively. Parental chronic spinal pain was consistently associated with increased occurrence of chronic spinal pain in their adult offspring, and this association was particularly strong for multilevel spinal pain. © 2014 European Pain Federation - EFIC®

Associations Between Functional Movement Screening, the Y Balance Test, and Injuries in Coast Guard Training.

PubMed

Cosio-Lima, Ludmila; Knapik, Joseph J; Shumway, Richard; Reynolds, Katy; Lee, Youngil; Greska, Eric; Hampton, Michael

2016-07-01

Tests that have the ability to predict injuries in various military and athletic populations are important because of the role they could play in primary prevention. Functional Movement Screen (FMS) and Y Balance Tests (YBT) may provide this prognostic ability. This study examined the association between injuries and age, physical characteristics, FMS, and upper and lower body YBTs among Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team (MSRT) candidates. Thirty-one male Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team candidates were administered the 7 FMS tests and lower- and upper-body YBTs before their intense 2-month training course. Age, height, weight, and body mass index were also obtained. Physical training-related injuries were recorded during the course. Injury incidence was 41%. Older age and lower scores on either FMS or the upper-body YBT were associated with higher injury risk. Performance of the lower-body YBT was not associated with injury risk. This is the first investigation showing that lower scores on the upper-body YBT were associated with higher injury risk and is in consonance with previous investigations demonstrating associations between lower FMS scores and higher injury risk. Certain limitations need to be addressed. Future studies should determine if FMS and the YBTs have prognostic ability in other populations. Reprint & Copyright © 2016 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Online Health Information Seeking in Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery.

PubMed

Özkan, Sezai; Mellema, Jos J; Nazzal, Adam; Lee, Sang-Gil; Ring, David

2016-12-01

Information gathering is a key component of shared decision making and has a measurable effect on treatment decisions. Access to health information might improve quality of care in hand surgery. Our purpose was to identify socio-demographic, condition-related, and psychosocial factors associated with online information-seeking behavior in patients with hand and upper-extremity conditions. From June 2015 to February 2016, we enrolled 134 patients with an upper-extremity condition who presented to an outpatient hand surgery office at an urban level I trauma center in this cross-sectional study. Participants provided socio-demographic information and completed online questionnaires assessing their online information-seeking behavior, pain intensity, symptoms of depression, and pain interference, and an upper extremity-specific, patient-reported outcome measure. A total of 57 patients (43%) sought information regarding their condition online before their visit. Compared with patients with no online information-seeking behavior, patients who sought information online were more educated. Psychosocial and condition-related factors were not associated with online information seeking. In multivariable analysis, education in years and involvement of the dominant upper limb were independently associated with online information-seeking behavior. Education in years and involvement of the dominant upper limb were independently associated with online information-seeking behavior but psychosocial and condition-related factors were not. As health information seeking is becoming an integral part of the modern day clinical experience, efforts to make online information more appealing and useful to people of all education levels are merited. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Lynch Syndrome: A Primer for Urologists and Panel Recommendations.

PubMed

Mork, Maureen; Hubosky, Scott G; Rouprêt, Morgan; Margulis, Vitaly; Raman, Jay; Lotan, Yair; O'Brien, Timothy; You, Nancy; Shariat, Shahrokh F; Matin, Surena F

2015-07-01

Lynch syndrome, also known as hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer, is a common genetic disease. The predisposition of patients with Lynch syndrome to urological cancer, particularly upper tract urothelial carcinoma, is underappreciated. Urologists may be involved in several aspects of care involving Lynch syndrome, including identifying undiagnosed patients, surveillance of those with established Lynch syndrome or screening family members, in addition to treating patients with Lynch syndrome in whom upper tract urothelial carcinoma develops. We sought to increase awareness in the urological community about Lynch syndrome and provide some guidance where little currently exists. Using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement we reviewed the available published literature and guidelines from 1998 to 2014 on Lynch syndrome and its association with upper tract urothelial carcinoma. Recommendations based on the literature and the consensus of expert opinion are provided. No randomized or prospective study has been done to evaluate Lynch syndrome in the setting of urological cancer. All data were based on retrospective studies. Lynch syndrome is an autosomal dominant genetic disease caused by germline mutations in 4 mismatch repair genes, leading to the accumulation of DNA errors in microsatellite regions. Upper tract urothelial carcinoma develops in up to 28% of patients with known Lynch syndrome. The diagnosis of Lynch syndrome is established by clinical criteria, tumor tissue testing and genetic evaluation. Urologists should suspect Lynch syndrome when a patient with upper tract urothelial carcinoma presents before age 60 years or meets the 3-2-1 rule. Screening patients with Lynch syndrome for upper tract urothelial carcinoma presents a particular challenge. While no ideal screening test exists, at a minimum routine urinalysis is recommended using the American Urological Association guideline of 3 or more red blood cells per high power field as a trigger for further assessment. Upper tract urothelial carcinoma associated with Lynch syndrome presents at a younger age than sporadic upper tract urothelial carcinoma. It shows a higher proportion of ureteral cancer with a female preponderance and a possible predisposition to bilaterality. Lynch syndrome is a common genetic disease that is an underappreciated cause of upper tract urothelial carcinoma and possibly other urological cancers. Optimal screening for upper tract urothelial carcinoma in this population is unclear. Further study is needed to identify the best screening test and interval of testing. Urologists should consider routine tissue testing of de novo upper tract urothelial carcinoma tissue in individuals at risk. Copyright © 2015 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND LEARNING PROFICIENCY IN YOUNG CHILDREN.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ROHWER, WILLIAM D., JR.; AND OTHERS

THIS STUDY WAS INITIATED TO DETERMINE WHY CHILDREN OF LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, WHO DO INFERIOR WORK ON SCHOOL-RELATED LEARNING TASKS WHEN COMPARED TO UPPER SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS CHILDREN, LEARN AS EFFICIENTLY AS UPPER LEVEL CHILDREN ON PAIRED-ASSOCIATE TASKS. THE SAMPLE CONSISTED OF 120 LOWER STATUS CHILDREN AND 120 UPPER STATUS CHILDREN,…

Upper Elk Meadows Research Natural Area: guidebook supplement 43

Treesearch

Reid Schuller; Cheshire Mayrsohn

2013-01-01

This guidebook describes Upper Elk Meadows Research Natural Area (RNA), a 90-ha (223-ac) area that supports a mixture of coniferous forest and open, shruband herb-dominated wetlands. The major forest plant association present within Upper Elk Meadows RNA is Pacific silver fir/vine maple/coolwort foamflower (Abies amabilis/Acer circinatum-Tiarella trifoliata...

Upper extremity pain and computer use among engineering graduate students.

PubMed

Schlossberg, Eric B; Morrow, Sandra; Llosa, Augusto E; Mamary, Edward; Dietrich, Peter; Rempel, David M

2004-09-01

The objective of this study was to investigate risk factors associated with persistent or recurrent upper extremity and neck pain among engineering graduate students. A random sample of 206 Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) graduate students at a large public university completed an online questionnaire. Approximately 60% of respondents reported upper extremity or neck pain attributed to computer use and reported a mean pain severity score of 4.5 (+/-2.2; scale 0-10). In a final logistic regression model, female gender, years of computer use, and hours of computer use per week were significantly associated with pain. The high prevalence of upper extremity pain reported by graduate students suggests a public health need to identify interventions that will reduce symptom severity and prevent impairment.

Long-term esophageal motility changes after thyroidectomy: associations with aerodigestive disorders.

PubMed

Scerrino, G; Inviati, A; Di Giovanni, S; Paladino, N C; Di Giovanni, S; Paladino, N C; Di Paola, V; Raspanti, C; Melfa, G I; Cupido, F; Mazzola, S; Porrello, C; Bonventre, S; Gullotta, G

2017-01-01

Patients undergoing thyroidectomy often complain aerodigestive disorders. In a previous study we showed the associations between voice impairment and proximal acid reflux, swallowing impairment and Upper Esophageal Sphyncter (UES) incoordination and the decrease in UES pressure in thirty-six patients observed before and soon afterwards uncomplicated thyroidectomy. This study investigated the state of post-thyroidectomy esophageal motility changes and its associations with these disorders after 18-24 months. The thirty-six patients prospectively recruited according to selection criteria (thyroid volume ≤60 ml, benign disease, age 18-65 years, previous neck surgery, thyroiditis, pre- or postoperative vocal cord palsy) underwent voice (VIS) and swallowing (SIS) impairment scores, esophageal manometry and pH monitoring once again. After 18-24 months, both VIS and SIS recovered (respectively: p=0,022; p=0,0001); UES pressure increased (p=0,0001) nearing the preoperative values. The persistence of swallowing complaints were associated with the persistence of esophageal incoordination (p=0,03); the association between voice impairment and proximal acid reflux was confirmed (p<0,001). Our study confirms that aerodigestive disorders after uncomplicated thyroidectomy, largely transient, are strictly connected with upper esophageal motility changes. In this viewpoint, the innervation of upper aerodigestive anatomical structures (larynx, pharynx, upper esophagus) and its variations should be focused.

Analysis of the association of fluid balance and short-term outcome in traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Zhao, Zilong; Wang, Dong; Jia, Ying; Tian, Ye; Wang, Yi; Wei, Yingsheng; Zhang, Jianning; Jiang, Rongcai

2016-05-15

A balance of fluid intake and output (fluid balance) influences outcomes of critical illness, but the level of such influence remains poorly understood for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and was quantitatively examined in this study. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 351 moderate and severe TBI patients to associate the degree of fluid balance with clinical outcomes of TBI. Fluid balance and intracranial pressure (ICP) were continuously recorded for 7days on patients admitted to neurocritical care unit (NCCU). The short-term outcome was dichotomized into improvement and deterioration groups based on changes in Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) measured between admission and 30days after admission. Fluid balance was calculated as: Fluid intake (mL) - fluid outputs (mL)/day×5 and used to group patients in tertiles to study its effect on TBI outcome. Patients at the low (<637mL) and upper (>3673mL) tertiles of fluid balance were associated with poor outcomes. Those in the upper tertile also had a higher incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) and refractory intracranial hypertension (RIH). There was a negative correlation between the cumulative fluid balance and the short-term outcome for patients in the low tertile and a positive correlation between the cumulative fluid balance and the short-term outcome in the upper fluid balance group. Levels of fluid balance were also associated with serum creatinine (Cr, r=0.451, P<0.0001) and days in NCCU (r=0.188, P=0.001). More patients in the upper tertile had ICP higher than 20mmHg (P=0.009). A fluid balance in the upper tertile is an independent predictor of poor 30-day clinical outcomes after the adjustment for confounding variables in a multivariable logistic regression model. We found that fluid balance in low and upper tertiles were associated with poor short-term outcomes and ICP variations. Fluid balance in the upper tertile may be an independent predictor for poor 30-day outcome, primarily due to high AKI and RIH. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Tooth demineralization and associated factors in patients on fixed orthodontic treatment.

PubMed

Salmerón-Valdés, Elías Nahúm; Lara-Carrillo, Edith; Medina-Solís, Carlo Eduardo; Robles-Bermeo, Norma Leticia; Scougall-Vilchis, Rogelio José; Casanova-Rosado, Juan Fernando; Pontigo-Loyola, América Patricia; Fernández Barrera, Miguel Ángel

2016-11-02

Dental demineralization was determined in patients at three time points during fixed orthodontic treatment. A multiple cross-sectional study included 108 patients divided into three different groups: (1) beginning of orthodontic treatment; (2) one year into treatment; and (3) two years into treatment. Demineralization was estimated using a DIAGNOdent pen. We obtained data from multiple tooth-by-tooth demineralization readings combined with salivary pH and patients' oral hygienic and dietary behaviors. A t-test for independent samples and Spearman´s correlation were performed. No demineralizations differences were found between the initial stage and one year into treatment. Between one and two years small differences were observed, but demineralization increased between the initial stage and second treatment year, predominating in upper right central incisors (p = 0.056), upper left lateral incisors (p = 0.040), both upper canines (p = 0.055 and p = 0.040, respectively) and first left premolars (p = 0.034 and p = 0.053, respectively). We did not find associations between oral hygiene and dietary behaviours or salivary pH. In conclusion, demineralization occurred in first year of treatment and increased during second year, predominating in the upper arch and the left side mainly in upper right central incisors, upper left lateral incisors, both upper canines, and first left premolars.

Low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D are associated with the occurrence of concomitant upper limb fractures in older women who sustain a fall-related fracture of the hip.

PubMed

Di Monaco, Marco; Vallero, Fulvia; Castiglioni, Carlotta; Di Monaco, Roberto; Tappero, Rosa

2011-01-01

To investigate the association between serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and the occurrence of simultaneous fractures of the upper limb in older women who sustain a fall-related fracture of the hip. Cross-sectional study. We investigated 472 of 480 white women consecutively admitted to a rehabilitation hospital because of a fall-related hip fracture. Twenty-seven (5.7%) of the 472 women sustained a concomitant upper-limb fracture of either distal radius (20 women) or proximal humerus (seven women). We assessed serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D 14.2 ± 4.1 (mean ± SD) days after surgical repair of the hip fracture in the 472 women by an immunoenzymatic assay. Twenty-five-hydroxyvitamin D levels were significantly lower in the 27 women with concomitant fractures of both hip and upper limb than in the remaining 445 hip-fracture women: mean ± SD values were 6.5 ± 5.0 ng/ml and 11.7 ± 10.4 ng/ml respectively in the two groups (mean difference between groups 5.2 ng/ml: 95% CI 1.2-9.2; p=0.011). Low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D were significantly associated with concomitant fractures of the upper limb (p=0.017), after adjustment for eight potential confounders including age, height, weight, hip-fracture type, cognitive impairment, neurologic impairment, previous hip fracture, and previous upper-limb fracture. Low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D were significantly associated with concomitant upper-limb fractures in our sample of older women with a fall-related fracture of the hip. Preventing vitamin D deficiency may lower the incidence of simultaneous fractures due to a singe fall in elderly women. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and betel quid chewing on upper digestive diseases: a large cross-sectional study and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Chuang, Yun-Shiuan; Wu, Meng-Chieh; Yu, Fang-Jung; Wang, Yao-Kuang; Lu, Chien-Yu; Wu, Deng-Chyang; Kuo, Chie-Tong; Wu, Ming-Tsang; Wu, I-Chen

2017-09-29

Cigarette smoking is a well-known risk factor of upper digestive diseases. Findings on alcohol's effect on these diseases are inconsistent and with the exception of its association with esophageal cancer, little is known about betel quid chewing. This study investigated the association between use of these three substances and upper digestive diseases. We collected data from 9,275 patients receiving upper endoscopies between April 2008 and December 2013. Polynomial regressions were used to analyze the association between risk factors and diseases of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum. Meta-analysis for use of these substances and esophageal diseases was also performed. Participants who simultaneously consumed cigarettes, alcohol and betel quid had a 17.28-fold risk of esophageal cancer (95% CI = 7.59-39.33), 2.99-fold risk of Barrette's esophagus (95% CI = 2.40-4.39), 1.60-fold risk of grade A-B erosive esophagitis (95% CI = 1.29-2.00), 2.00-fold risk of gastric ulcer (95% CI = 1.52-2.63), 2.12-fold risk of duodenitis (95% CI = 1.55-2.89) and 1.29-fold risk of duodenal ulcer (95% CI = 1.01-1.65). Concurrent consumption of more substances was associated with significantly higher risk of developing these diseases. Meta-analysis also revealed use of the three substances came with a high risk of esophageal diseases. In conclusions, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and betel quid chewing were associated with upper digestive tract diseases.

Perceived ability to perform daily hand activities after stroke and associated factors: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Ekstrand, Elisabeth; Rylander, Lars; Lexell, Jan; Brogårdh, Christina

2016-11-02

Despite that disability of the upper extremity is common after stroke, there is limited knowledge how it influences self-perceived ability to perform daily hand activities. The aim of this study was to describe which daily hand activities that persons with mild to moderate impairments of the upper extremity after stroke perceive difficult to perform and to evaluate how several potential factors are associated with the self-perceived performance. Seventy-five persons (72 % male) with mild to moderate impairments of the upper extremity after stroke (4 to 116 months) participated. Self-perceived ability to perform daily hand activities was rated with the ABILHAND Questionnaire. The perceived ability to perform daily hand activities and the potentially associated factors (age, gender, social and vocational situation, affected hand, upper extremity pain, spasticity, grip strength, somatosensation of the hand, manual dexterity, perceived participation and life satisfaction) were evaluated by linear regression models. The activities that were perceived difficult or impossible for a majority of the participants were bimanual tasks that required fine manual dexterity of the more affected hand. The factor that had the strongest association with perceived ability to perform daily hand activities was dexterity (p < 0.001), which together with perceived participation (p = 0.002) explained 48 % of the variance in the final multivariate model. Persons with mild to moderate impairments of the upper extremity after stroke perceive that bimanual activities requiring fine manual dexterity are the most difficult to perform. Dexterity and perceived participation are factors specifically important to consider in the rehabilitation of the upper extremity after stroke in order to improve the ability to use the hands in daily life.

Upper extremity access for fenestrated endovascular aortic aneurysm repair is not associated with increased morbidity.

PubMed

Knowles, Martyn; Nation, David A; Timaran, David E; Gomez, Luis F; Baig, M Shadman; Valentine, R James; Timaran, Carlos H

2015-01-01

Fenestrated endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (FEVAR) is an alternative to open repair in patients with complex abdominal aortic aneurysms who are neither fit nor suitable for standard open or endovascular repair. Chimney and snorkel grafts are other endovascular alternatives but frequently require bilateral upper extremity access that has been associated with a 3% to 10% risk of stroke. However, upper extremity access is also frequently required for FEVAR because of the caudal orientation of the visceral vessels. The purpose of this study was to assess the use of upper extremity access for FEVAR and the associated morbidity. During a 5-year period, 148 patients underwent FEVAR, and upper extremity access for FEVAR was used in 98 (66%). Outcomes were compared between those who underwent upper extremity access and those who underwent femoral access alone. The primary end point was a cerebrovascular accident or transient ischemic attack, and the secondary end point was local access site complications. The mean number of fenestrated vessels was 3.07 ± 0.81 (median, 3) for a total of 457 vessels stented. Percutaneous upper extremity access was used in 12 patients (12%) and open access in 86 (88%). All patients who required a sheath size >7F underwent high brachial open access, with the exception of one patient who underwent percutaneous axillary access with a 12F sheath. The mean sheath size was 10.59F ± 2.51F (median, 12F), which was advanced into the descending thoracic aorta, allowing multiple wire and catheter exchanges. One hemorrhagic stroke (one of 98 [1%]) occurred in the upper extremity access group, and one ischemic stroke (one of 54 [2%]) occurred in the femoral-only access group (P = .67). The stroke in the upper extremity access group occurred 5 days after FEVAR and was related to uncontrolled hypertension, whereas the stroke in the femoral group occurred on postoperative day 3. Neither patient had signs or symptoms of a stroke immediately after FEVAR. The right upper extremity was accessed six times without a stroke (0%) compared with the left being accessed 92 times with one stroke (1%; P = .8). Four patients (4%) had local complications related to upper extremity access. One (1%) required exploration for an expanding hematoma after manual compression for a 7F sheath, one (1%) required exploration for hematoma and neurologic symptoms after open access for a 12F sheath, and two patients (2%) with small hematomas did not require intervention. Two (two of 12 [17%]) of these complications were in the percutaneous access group, which were significantly more frequent than in the open group (two of 86 [2%]; P = .02). Upper extremity access appears to be a safe and feasible approach for patients undergoing FEVAR. Open exposure in the upper extremity may be safer than percutaneous access during FEVAR. Unlike chimney and snorkel grafts, upper extremity access during FEVAR is not associated with an increased risk of stroke, despite the need for multiple visceral vessel stenting. Copyright © 2015 Society for Vascular Surgery. All rights reserved.

Health-Related Quality of Life, Cachexia and Overall Survival After Major Upper Abdominal Surgery: A Prospective Cohort Study.

PubMed

Aahlin, E K; Tranø, G; Johns, N; Horn, A; Søreide, J A; Fearon, K C; Revhaug, A; Lassen, K

2017-03-01

Major upper abdominal surgery is often associated with reduced health-related quality of life and reduced survival. Patients with upper abdominal malignancies often suffer from cachexia, represented by preoperative weight loss and sarcopenia (low skeletal muscle mass) and this might affect both health-related quality of life and survival. We aimed to investigate how health-related quality of life is affected by cachexia and how health-related quality of life relates to long-term survival after major upper abdominal surgery. From 2001 to 2006, 447 patients were included in a Norwegian multicenter randomized controlled trial in major upper abdominal surgery. In this study, six years later, these patients were analyzed as a single prospective cohort and survival data were retrieved from the National Population Registry. Cachexia was derived from patient-reported preoperative weight loss and sarcopenia as assessed from computed tomography images taken within three months preoperatively. In the original trial, self-reported health-related quality of life was assessed preoperatively at trial enrollment and eight weeks postoperatively with the health-related quality of life questionnaire Short Form 36. A majority of the patients experienced improved mental health-related quality of life and, to a lesser extent, deteriorated physical health-related quality of life following surgery. There was a significant association between preoperative weight loss and reduced physical health-related quality of life. No association between sarcopenia and health-related quality of life was observed. Overall survival was significantly associated with physical health-related quality of life both pre- and postoperatively, and with postoperative mental health-related quality of life. The association between health-related quality of life and survival was particularly strong for postoperative physical health-related quality of life. Postoperative physical health-related quality of life strongly correlates with overall survival after major upper abdominal surgery.

How do somatosensory deficits in the arm and hand relate to upper limb impairment, activity, and participation problems after stroke? A systematic review.

PubMed

Meyer, Sarah; Karttunen, Auli H; Thijs, Vincent; Feys, Hilde; Verheyden, Geert

2014-09-01

The association between somatosensory impairments and outcome after stroke remains unclear. The aim of this study was to systematically review the available literature on the relationship between somatosensory impairments in the upper limb and outcome after stroke. The electronic databases PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, and Web of Science were systematically searched from inception until July 2013. Studies were included if adult patients with stroke (minimum n=10) were examined with reliable and valid measures of somatosensation in the upper limb to investigate the relationship with upper limb impairment, activity, and participation measures. Exclusion criteria included measures of somatosensation involving an overall score for upper and lower limb outcome and articles including only lower limb outcomes. Eligibility assessment, data extraction, and quality evaluation were completed by 2 independent reviewers. A cutoff score of ≥65% of the maximal quality score was used for further inclusion in this review. Six articles met all inclusion criteria. Two-point discrimination was shown to be predictive for upper limb dexterity, and somatosensory evoked potentials were shown to have predictive value in upper limb motor recovery. Proprioception was significantly correlated with perceived level of physical activity and social isolation and had some predictive value in functional movements of the upper limb. Finally, the combination of light touch and proprioception impairment was shown to be significantly related to upper limb motor recovery as well as handicap situations during activities of daily living. Heterogeneity of the included studies warrants caution when interpreting results. Large variation in results was found due to heterogeneity of the studies. However, somatosensory deficits were shown to have an important role in upper limb motor and functional performance after stroke. © 2014 American Physical Therapy Association.

Neurothekeoma palpebrae in association with multiple superficial angiomyxomas: Tegumental Angiomyxoma-Neurothekeoma syndrome (TAN syndrome).

PubMed

Kah, Tan Aik; Yong, Ku Chui; Annuar, Faridah Hanom

2011-07-01

We report a case of 10-year-old Indian girl with history of multiple superficial angiomyxoma, presented with three months history of painless right upper lid swelling. There were no visual dysfunctions. Previously, the patient had multiple superficial angiomyxoma (left pinna, left upper cheek, left upper limb, chest, right axilla, hard palate) and epidermal cyst (chin). The histopathological specimens were negative to S-100 protein antibody. Systemic review and family history was unremarkable. Excision biopsy and upper lid reconstruction were performed. Intraoperatively the tumor was multilobulated, firm, well encapsulated and did not invade the underlying tarsal plate. Histopathological features of the upperlid tumor were consistent with nerves sheath myxoma (neurothekeoma). To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of neurothekeoma in association with multiple superficial angiomyxoma.

Neurothekeoma palpebrae in association with multiple superficial angiomyxomas: Tegumental Angiomyxoma-Neurothekeoma syndrome (TAN syndrome)

PubMed Central

Kah, Tan Aik; Yong, Ku Chui; Annuar, Faridah Hanom

2011-01-01

We report a case of 10-year-old Indian girl with history of multiple superficial angiomyxoma, presented with three months history of painless right upper lid swelling. There were no visual dysfunctions. Previously, the patient had multiple superficial angiomyxoma (left pinna, left upper cheek, left upper limb, chest, right axilla, hard palate) and epidermal cyst (chin). The histopathological specimens were negative to S-100 protein antibody. Systemic review and family history was unremarkable. Excision biopsy and upper lid reconstruction were performed. Intraoperatively the tumor was multilobulated, firm, well encapsulated and did not invade the underlying tarsal plate. Histopathological features of the upperlid tumor were consistent with nerves sheath myxoma (neurothekeoma). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first reported case of neurothekeoma in association with multiple superficial angiomyxoma. PMID:24765328

Periocular mexametric melanin and erythema indexes in adult glaucoma patients treated with topical prostaglandin analogs.

PubMed

Duman, Nilay; Duman, Reşat; Yavaş, Güliz Fatma; Doğruk Kaçar, Seval; Özuğuz, Pınar; Çetinkaya, Ersan

2017-03-01

Although topical prostaglandin analogs (PGAs) have been previously associated with periocular skin hyperpigmentation, studies using objective clinical methods are lacking. Furthermore changes in periocular skin erythema indexes associated with topical PGAs have not been reported previously. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate periocular melanin and erythema indexes in patients treated with topical PGA using an objective clinical method - Mexameter. About 45 glaucoma patients treated with topical PGA therapy, and 30 age-, and sex-matched controls were enrolled in the study. Demographic data, medical history including duration of therapy, PGA type, involved eye (unilateral, bilateral) were noted, and skin phototypes were evaluated. Melanin and erythema indexes on medial and lateral upper and lower eyelids, and normal skin from the upper cheeks were measured using Mexameter MX-18. The index of difference for lower/upper eyelid was calculated. Reading results of patients and controls were compared. Melanin and erythema indexes of upper/lower eyelids, and the index of differences for upper/lower eyelids were significantly higher in patients despite similar clinical findings (p < 0.05). Duration of therapy and type of PGA were not associated with skin changes (p > 0.05). Both periocular melanin and erythema indexes increased in both upper and lower eyelids due to PGA therapy compared to controls, despite similar clinical findings. Mexametric evaluation is more sensitive than clinical evaluation, and may be used as an objective, sensitive clinical method to evaluate periocular skin changes, even smallest changes, in such patients.

Lack of association between venous hemodynamics, venous morphology and the postthrombotic syndrome after upper extremity deep venous thrombosis.

PubMed

Czihal, M; Paul, S; Rademacher, A; Bernau, C; Hoffmann, U

2015-03-01

To explore the association of the postthrombotic syndrome with venous hemodynamics and morphological abnormalities after upper extremity deep venous thrombosis. Thirty-seven patients with a history of upper extremity deep venous thrombosis treated with anticoagulation alone underwent a single study visit (mean time after diagnosis: 44.4 ± 28.1 months). Presence and severity postthrombotic syndrome were classified according to the modified Villalta score. Venous volume and venous emptying were determined by strain-gauge plethysmography. The arm veins were assessed for postthrombotic abnormalities by ultrasonography. The relationship between postthrombotic syndrome and hemodynamic and morphological sequelae was evaluated using univariate significance tests and Spearman's correlation analysis. Fifteen of 37 patients (40.5%) developed postthrombotic syndrome. Venous volume and venous emptying of the arm affected by upper extremity deep venous thrombosis did not correlate with the Villalta score (rho = 0.17 and 0.19; p = 0.31 and 0.25, respectively). Residual morphological abnormalities, as assessed by ultrasonography, did not differ significantly between patients with and without postthrombotic syndrome (77.3% vs. 86.7%, p = 0.68). Postthrombotic syndrome after upper extremity deep venous thrombosis is not associated with venous hemodynamics or residual morphological abnormalities. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Hard work never hurt anyone: or did it? A review of occupational associations with soft tissue musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and upper limb.

PubMed

Walker-Bone, K; Cooper, C

2005-10-01

Pain in the neck and upper limb is common and contributes considerably to absence from work due to sickness. Evidence suggest that prolonged abnormal posture and repetition contribute to such conditions. Psychosocial risk factors may also play a part in the aetiology of upper limb disorders.

Musculoskeletal disorders among workers in plastic manufacturing plants.

PubMed

Fernandes, Rita de Cássia Pereira; Assunção, Ada Avila; Silvany Neto, Annibal Muniz; Carvalho, Fernando Martins

2010-03-01

Epidemiological studies have indicated an association between musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and physical work demands. Psychosocial work demands have also been identified as possible risk factors, but findings have been inconsistent. To evaluate factors associated with upper back, neck and upper limb MSD among workers from 14 plastic manufacturing companies located in the city of Salvador, Brazil. A cross-sectional study design was used to survey a stratified proportional random sample of 577 workers. Data were collected by questionnaire interviews. Factor analysis was carried out on 11 physical demands variables. Psychosocial work demands were measured by demand, control and social support questions. The role of socio-demographic factors, lifestyle and household tasks was also examined. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify factors related to upper back, neck and upper limb MSDs. Results from multiple logistic regression showed that distal upper limb MSDs were related to manual handling, work repetitiveness, psychosocial demands, job dissatisfaction, and gender. Neck, shoulder or upper back MSDs were related to manual handling, work repetitiveness, psychosocial demands, job dissatisfaction, and physical unfitness. Reducing the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders requires: improving the work environment, reducing biomechanical risk factors, and replanning work organization. Programs must also be aware of gender specificities related to MSDs.

Trends in Acute Nonvariceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Dialysis Patients

PubMed Central

Yang, Ju-Yeh; Lee, Tsung-Chun; Montez-Rath, Maria E.; Paik, Jane; Chertow, Glenn M.; Desai, Manisha

2012-01-01

Impaired kidney function is a risk factor for upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, an event associated with poor outcomes. The burden of upper GI bleeding and its effect on patients with ESRD are not well described. Using data from the US Renal Data System, we quantified the rates of occurrence of and associated 30-day mortality from acute, nonvariceal upper GI bleeding in patients undergoing dialysis; we used medical claims and previously validated algorithms where available. Overall, 948,345 patients contributed 2,296,323 patient-years for study. The occurrence rates for upper GI bleeding were 57 and 328 episodes per 1000 person-years according to stringent and lenient definitions of acute, nonvariceal upper GI bleeding, respectively. Unadjusted occurrence rates remained flat (stringent) or increased (lenient) from 1997 to 2008; after adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics and comorbid conditions, however, we found a significant decline for both definitions (linear approximation, 2.7% and 1.5% per year, respectively; P<0.001). In more recent years, patients had higher hematocrit levels before upper GI bleeding episodes and were more likely to receive blood transfusions during an episode. Overall 30-day mortality was 11.8%, which declined significantly over time (relative declines of 2.3% or 2.8% per year for the stringent and lenient definitions, respectively). In summary, despite declining trends worldwide, crude rates of acute, nonvariceal upper GI bleeding among patients undergoing dialysis have not decreased in the past 10 years. Although 30-day mortality related to upper GI bleeding declined, perhaps reflecting improvements in medical care, the burden on the ESRD population remains substantial. PMID:22266666

Neck and Upper Limb Dysfunction in Patients following Neck Dissection: Looking beyond the Shoulder.

PubMed

Gane, Elise M; O'Leary, Shaun P; Hatton, Anna L; Panizza, Benedict J; McPhail, Steven M

2017-10-01

Objective To measure patient-perceived upper limb and neck function following neck dissection and to investigate potential associations between clinical factors, symptoms, and function. Study Design Cross-sectional. Setting Two tertiary hospitals in Brisbane, Australia. Subjects and Methods Inclusion criteria: patients treated with neck dissection (2009-2014). aged <18 years, accessory nerve or sternocleidomastoid sacrifice, previous neck dissection, preexisting shoulder/neck injury, and inability to provide informed consent (cognition, insufficient English). Primary outcomes were self-reported function of the upper limb (Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand) and neck (Neck Disability Index). Secondary outcomes included demographics, oncological management, self-efficacy, and pain. Generalized linear models were prepared to examine relationships between explanatory variables and self-reported function. Results Eighty-nine participants (male n = 63, 71%; median age, 62 years; median 3 years since surgery) reported mild upper limb and neck dysfunction (median [quartile 1, quartile 3] scores of 11 [3, 32] and 12 [4, 28], respectively). Significant associations were found between worse upper limb function and longer time since surgery (coefficient, 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.01-3.51), having disease within the thyroid (17.40; 2.37-32.44), postoperative radiation therapy (vs surgery only) (13.90; 6.67-21.14), and shoulder pain (0.65; 0.44-0.85). Worse neck function was associated with metastatic cervical lymph nodes (coefficient, 6.61; 95% CI, 1.14-12.08), shoulder pain (0.19; 0.04-0.34), neck pain (0.34; 0.21-0.47), and symptoms of neuropathic pain (0.61; 0.25-0.98). Conclusion Patients can experience upper limb and neck dysfunction following nerve-preserving neck dissection. The upper quadrant as a whole should be considered when assessing rehabilitation priorities after neck dissection.

PROPOSAL OF A CLINICAL CARE PATHWAY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF ACUTE UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL BLEEDING.

PubMed

Franco, Matheus Cavalcante; Nakao, Frank Shigueo; Rodrigues, Rodrigo; Maluf-Filho, Fauze; Paulo, Gustavo Andrade de; Libera, Ermelindo Della

2015-12-01

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding implies significant clinical and economic repercussions. The correct establishment of the latest therapies for the upper gastrointestinal bleeding is associated with reduced in-hospital mortality. The use of clinical pathways for the upper gastrointestinal bleeding is associated with shorter hospital stay and lower hospital costs. The primary objective is the development of a clinical care pathway for the management of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding, to be used in tertiary hospital. It was conducted an extensive literature review on the management of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, contained in the primary and secondary information sources. The result is a clinical care pathway for the upper gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with evidence of recent bleeding, diagnosed by melena or hematemesis in the last 12 hours, who are admitted in the emergency rooms and intensive care units of tertiary hospitals. In this compact and understandable pathway, it is well demonstrated the management since the admission, with definition of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, passing through the initial clinical treatment, posterior guidance for endoscopic therapy, and referral to rescue therapies in cases of persistent or rebleeding. It was also included the care that must be taken before hospital discharge for all patients who recover from an episode of bleeding. The introduction of a clinical care pathway for patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding may contribute to standardization of medical practices, decrease in waiting time for medications and services, length of hospital stay and costs.

Procalcitonin Testing to Guide Antibiotic Therapy in Acute Upper and Lower Respiratory Tract Infections.

PubMed

Schuetz, Philipp; Wirz, Yannick; Mueller, Beat

2018-03-06

Is the use of procalcitonin for guiding antibiotic decisions in patients with acute upper and lower respiratory tract infections associated with improved clinical outcomes compared with usual care? Among patients with varying types and severity of acute respiratory infection, using procalcitonin to guide decisions about antibiotics is associated with lower rates of antibiotic exposure, antibiotic-related adverse effects, and mortality.

21 CFR 522.820 - Erythromycin.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

...) Indications for use. For the treatment of bacterial pneumonia, upper respiratory infections (tonsillitis... for use. For the treatment of bacterial pneumonia, upper respiratory infections (rhinitis, bronchitis... disease (shipping fever complex and bacterial pneumonia) associated with Pasteurella multocida susceptible...

21 CFR 522.820 - Erythromycin.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) Indications for use. For the treatment of bacterial pneumonia, upper respiratory infections (tonsillitis... for use. For the treatment of bacterial pneumonia, upper respiratory infections (rhinitis, bronchitis... disease (shipping fever complex and bacterial pneumonia) associated with Pasteurella multocida susceptible...

21 CFR 522.820 - Erythromycin.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

...) Indications for use. For the treatment of bacterial pneumonia, upper respiratory infections (tonsillitis... for use. For the treatment of bacterial pneumonia, upper respiratory infections (rhinitis, bronchitis... disease (shipping fever complex and bacterial pneumonia) associated with Pasteurella multocida susceptible...

21 CFR 522.820 - Erythromycin.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

...) Indications for use. For the treatment of bacterial pneumonia, upper respiratory infections (tonsillitis... for use. For the treatment of bacterial pneumonia, upper respiratory infections (rhinitis, bronchitis... disease (shipping fever complex and bacterial pneumonia) associated with Pasteurella multocida susceptible...

21 CFR 522.820 - Erythromycin.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

...) Indications for use. For the treatment of bacterial pneumonia, upper respiratory infections (tonsillitis... for use. For the treatment of bacterial pneumonia, upper respiratory infections (rhinitis, bronchitis... disease (shipping fever complex and bacterial pneumonia) associated with Pasteurella multocida susceptible...

Texting on mobile phones and musculoskeletal disorders in young adults: A five-year cohort study.

PubMed

Gustafsson, Ewa; Thomée, Sara; Grimby-Ekman, Anna; Hagberg, Mats

2017-01-01

The aim was to examine whether texting on a mobile phone is a risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders in the neck and upper extremities in a population of young adults. In a longitudinal population-based cohort study with Swedish young adults (aged 20-24 years) data were collected via a web-based questionnaire at baseline (n = 7092) and after one and five years. Cross-sectional associations were found between text messaging and reported ongoing symptoms in neck and upper extremities (odds ratios, ORs 1.3-2.0). Among symptom-free at baseline prospective associations were only found between text messaging and new cases of reported symptoms in the hand/fingers (OR 2.0) at one year follow up. Among those with symptoms at baseline prospective associations were found between text messaging and maintained pain in neck/upper back (OR 1.6). The results imply mostly short-term effects, and to a lesser extent, long-term effects on musculoskeletal disorders in neck and upper extremities. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Associations among binge eating behavior patterns and gastrointestinal symptoms: a population-based study

PubMed Central

Cremonini, F; Camilleri, M; Clark, MM; Beebe, TJ; Locke, GR; Zinsmeister, AR; Herrick, LM; Talley, NJ

2009-01-01

Background The psychological symptoms associated with binge eating disorder (BED) have been well documented. However, the physical symptoms associated with BED have not been explored. Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms such as heartburn and diarrhea are more prevalent in obese adults, but the associations remain unexplained. Patients with bulimia have increased gastric capacity. The objective of the study was to examine if the severity of binge eating episodes would be associated with upper and lower GI symptoms. Methods Population-based survey of community residents through a mailed questionnaire measuring GI symptoms, frequency of binge eating episodes and physical activity level. The association of GI symptoms with frequency of binge eating episodes was assessed using logistic regression models adjusting for age, gender, body mass index (BMI) and physical activity level. Results In 4096 subjects, BED was present in 6.1%. After adjusting for BMI, age, gender, race, diabetes mellitus, socioeconomic status and physical activity level, BED was independently associated with the following upper GI symptoms: acid regurgitation (P < 0.001), heartburn (P < 0.001), dysphagia (P < 0.001), bloating (P < 0.001) and upper abdominal pain (P < 0.001). BED was also associated with the following lower GI symptoms: diarrhea (P < 0.001), urgency (P < 0.001), constipation (P < 0.01) and feeling of anal blockage (P = 0.001). Conclusion BED appears to be associated with the experience of both upper and lower GI symptoms in the general population, independent of the level of obesity. The relationship between increased GI symptoms and physiological responses to increased volume and calorie loads, nutritional selections and rapidity of food ingestion in individuals with BED deserves further study. PMID:19139750

Association of personal hygiene with common morbidities among upper primary school children in rural Odisha.

PubMed

Paul, Kalyan Kumar; Panigrahi, Sandeep Kumar; Soodi Reddy, Arun Kiran; Sahu, Trilochan

2017-01-01

In India, children of upper primary school receive less attention from health-care providers. The majority of their health problems are preventable through hygienic practices. The aim of this study was to find out the association of personal hygiene with common morbidities among upper primary school children. A cross-sectional study conducted in a rural upper primary school of Odisha. A semi-structured schedule based on the Global School Health Survey Questionnaire and necessary instruments for clinical examination were used. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel 2007 and analyzed by SPSS version 20 software. Of 90 participants, 58 (64.4%) were girls. The mean age was 11.8 (±1.01) years. The mean body mass index of females was significantly higher than males (16.95 vs. 14.72; P = 0.001). More than 90% of children maintained good personal hygiene such as clean tongue, clean hair, handwashing, and using footwear. The most common morbidities found were dental caries (38.9%), history of worms in stool and lethargy (20%). A mean score of 6.14 ± 0.11 (out of 8) was seen for personal hygiene and not associated with any particular morbidity or gender. Brushing daily was significantly associated with reduced dental caries (χ 2 = 8.7; P < 0.005) and foul-smelling breath (χ 2 = 4.93; P < 0.05). Fungal infections were significantly less in children who bathed daily (χ 2 = 28.7; <0.005) and wore clean clothes (χ 2 = 5.06; P < 0.05). Dental caries, foul-smelling breath, and fungal infections were significantly associated with poor personal hygiene. School health services should also focus on upper primary school children for improvement of personal hygiene.

Three-dimensional velocity structure of crust and upper mantle in southwestern China and its tectonic implications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wang, Chun-Yong; Chan, W.W.; Mooney, W.D.

2003-01-01

Using P and S arrival times from 4625 local and regional earthquakes recorded at 174 seismic stations and associated geophysical investigations, this paper presents a three-dimensional crustal and upper mantle velocity structure of southwestern China (21??-34??N, 97??-105??E). Southwestern China lies in the transition zone between the uplifted Tibetan plateau to the west and the Yangtze continental platform to the east. In the upper crust a positive velocity anomaly exists in the Sichuan Basin, whereas a large-scale negative velocity anomaly exists in the western Sichuan Plateau, consistent with the upper crustal structure under the southern Tibetan plateau. The boundary between these two anomaly zones is the Longmen Shan Fault. The negative velocity anomalies at 50-km depth in the Tengchong volcanic area and the Panxi tectonic zone appear to be associated with temperature and composition variations in the upper mantle. The Red River Fault is the boundary between the positive and negative velocity anomalies at 50-km depth. The overall features of the crustal and the upper mantle structures in southwestern China are a low average velocity, large crustal thickness variations, the existence of a high-conductivity layer in the crust or/and upper mantle, and a high heat flow value. All these features are closely related to the collision between the Indian and the Asian plates.

Epidural analgesia does not increase the rate of inpatient falls after major upper abdominal and thoracic surgery: a retrospective case-control study.

PubMed

Elsharydah, Ahmad; Williams, Tiffany M; Rosero, Eric B; Joshi, Girish P

2016-05-01

Postoperative epidural analgesia for major upper abdominal and thoracic surgery can provide significant benefits, including superior analgesia and reduced pulmonary dysfunction. Nevertheless, epidural analgesia may also be associated with decreased muscle strength, sympathetic tone, and proprioception that could possibly contribute to falls. The purpose of this retrospective case-control study was to search a large national database in order to investigate the possible relationship between postoperative epidural analgesia and the rate of inpatient falls. Data from the nationwide inpatient sample for 2007-2011 were queried for adult patients who underwent elective major upper abdominal and thoracic surgery. Multiple International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes for inpatient falls and accidents were combined into one binary variable. Univariate analyses were used for initial statistical analysis. Logistic regression analyses and McNemar's tests were subsequently used to investigate the association of epidural analgesia with inpatient falls in a 1:1 case-control propensity-matched sample after adjustment of patients' demographics, comorbidities, and hospital characteristics. Forty-two thousand six hundred fifty-eight thoracic and 54,974 upper abdominal surgical procedures were identified. The overall incidence of inpatient falls in the thoracic surgery group was 6.54% with an increasing trend over the study period from 4.95% in 2007 to 8.11% in 2011 (P < 0.001). Similarly, the overall incidence of inpatient falls in the upper abdominal surgery group was 5.30% with an increasing trend from 4.55% in 2007 to 6.07% in 2011 (P < 0.001). Postoperative epidural analgesia was not associated with an increased risk for postoperative inpatient falls in the thoracic surgery group (relative risk [RR], 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.95 to 1.47; P = 0.144) and in the upper abdominal surgery group (RR, 0.84; 95% CI 0.64 to 1.09; P = 0.220). Inpatient falls compared with non-falls were associated with a longer median (interquartile range) length of hospital stay in both the thoracic surgery group (11 [7-17] days vs 9 [6-16] days, respectively; P < 0.001) and the upper abdominal surgery group (12 [7-20] days vs 10 [6-17] days, respectively; P < 0.001). Our study suggests that postoperative epidural analgesia for patients undergoing major upper abdominal and thoracic surgery is not associated with an increased risk of inpatient falls.

Proton pump inhibitors in prevention of low-dose aspirin-associated upper gastrointestinal injuries.

PubMed

Mo, Chen; Sun, Gang; Lu, Ming-Liang; Zhang, Li; Wang, Yan-Zhi; Sun, Xi; Yang, Yun-Sheng

2015-05-07

To determine the preventive effect and safety of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in low-dose aspirin (LDA)-associated gastrointestinal (GI) ulcers and bleeding. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register from inception to December 2013, and checked conference abstracts of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effect of PPIs in reducing adverse GI events (hemorrhage, ulcer, perforation, or obstruction) in patients taking LDA. The preventive effects of PPIs were compared with the control group [taking placebo, a cytoprotective agent, or an H2 receptor antagonist (H2RA)] in LDA-associated upper GI injuries. The meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1 software. We evaluated 8780 participants in 10 RCTs. The meta-analysis showed that PPIs decreased the risk of LDA-associated upper GI ulcers (OR = 0.16; 95%CI: 0.12-0.23) and bleeding (OR = 0.27; 95%CI: 0.16-0.43) compared with control. For patients treated with dual anti-platelet therapy of LDA and clopidogrel, PPIs were able to prevent the LDA-associated GI bleeding (OR = 0.36; 95%CI: 0.15-0.87) without increasing the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) (OR = 1.00; 95%CI: 0.76-1.31). PPIs were superior to H2RA in prevention of LDA-associated GI ulcers (OR = 0.12; 95%CI: 0.02-0.65) and bleeding (OR = 0.32; 95%CI: 0.13-0.79). PPIs are effective in preventing LDA-associated upper GI ulcers and bleeding. Concomitant use of PPI, LDA and clopidogrel did not increase the risk of MACE.

Risk Factors Associated with Mortality and Increased Drug Costs in Nonvariceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding.

PubMed

Lu, Mingliang; Sun, Gang; Zhang, Xiu-li; Zhang, Xiao-mei; Liu, Qing-sen; Huang, Qi-yang; Lau, James W Y; Yang, Yun-sheng

2015-06-01

To determine risk factors associated with mortality and increased drug costs in patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. We retrospectively analyzed data from patients hospitalized with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding between January 2001-December 2011. Demographic and clinical characteristics and drug costs were documented. Univariate analysis determined possible risk factors for mortality. Statistically significant variables were analyzed using a logistic regression model. Multiple linear regression analyzed factors influencing drug costs. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The study included data from 627 patients. Risk factors associated with increased mortality were age > 60, systolic blood pressure<100 mmHg, lack of endoscopic examination, comorbidities, blood transfusion, and rebleeding. Drug costs were higher in patients with rebleeding, blood transfusion, and prolonged hospital stay. In this patient cohort, re-bleeding rate is 11.20% and mortality is 5.74%. The mortality risk in patients with comorbidities was higher than in patients without comorbidities, and was higher in patients requiring blood transfusion than in patients not requiring transfusion. Rebleeding was associ-ated with mortality. Rebleeding, blood transfusion, and prolonged hospital stay were associated with increased drug costs, whereas bleeding from lesions in the esophagus and duodenum was associated with lower drug costs.

Upper Limit for Regional Sea Level Projections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jevrejeva, Svetlana; Jackson, Luke; Riva, Riccardo; Grinsted, Aslak; Moore, John

2016-04-01

With more than 150 million people living within 1 m of high tide future sea level rise is one of the most damaging aspects of warming climate. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (AR5 IPCC) noted that a 0.5 m rise in mean sea level will result in a dramatic increase the frequency of high water extremes - by an order of magnitude, or more in some regions. Thus the flood threat to the rapidly growing urban populations and associated infrastructure in coastal areas are major concerns for society. Hence, impact assessment, risk management, adaptation strategy and long-term decision making in coastal areas depend on projections of mean sea level and crucially its low probability, high impact, upper range. With probabilistic approach we produce regional sea level projections taking into account large uncertainties associated with Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets contribution. We calculate the upper limit (as 95%) for regional sea level projections by 2100 with RCP8.5 scenario, suggesting that for the most coastlines upper limit will exceed the global upper limit of 1.8 m.

Black esophagus syndrome associated with diabetic ketoacidosis

PubMed Central

Rigolon, Riccardo; Fossà, Irene; Rodella, Luca; Targher, Giovanni

2016-01-01

Acute esophageal necrosis, also known as “black esophagus syndrome”, is a rare acute esophageal disease that is often associated with vomiting and upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage. At present, little is known regarding the pathogenesis of this disease. We present the case of a 50-year-old white male patient with diabetic ketoacidosis suffering from acute esophageal necrosis with nausea and vomiting but without any clinical signs of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. PMID:26881192

Upper extremity musculoskeletal discomfort among occupational notebook personal computer users: work interference, associations with risk factors and the use of notebook computer stand and docking station.

PubMed

Erdinc, Oguzhan

2011-01-01

This study explored the prevalence and work interference (WI) of upper extremity musculoskeletal discomfort (UEMSD) and investigated the associations of individual and work-related risk factors and using a notebook stand or docking station with UEMSD among symptomatic occupational notebook personal computer (PC) users. The participant group included 45 Turkish occupational notebook PC users. The study used self-reports of participants. The Turkish version of the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (T-CMDQ) was used to collect symptom data. UEMSD prevailed mostly in the neck, the upper back, and the lower back with prevalence rates of 77.8%, 73.3%, and 60.0% respectively, and with WI rates of 28.9%, 24.4%, and 26.7% respectively. Aggregated results showed that 44% of participants reported WI due to UEMSD in at least one body region. Significant risk factors were: being female, being aged <31 years, having computer work experience <10 years, and physical discomfort during computer use. UEMSD prevalence and WI rates were considerable in the neck, the upper back, and the lower back. Significant associations between certain risk factors and UEMSD were identified, but no association was found between using notebook stand and docking station and UEMSD among participants.

Etiological and Endoscopic Profile of Middle Aged and Elderly Patients with Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding in a Tertiary Care Hospital in North India: A Retrospective Analysis.

PubMed

Mahajan, Pranav; Chandail, Vijant Singh

2017-01-01

Upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is a common medical emergency associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The clinical presentation depends on the amount and location of hemorrhage and the endoscopic profile varies according to different etiology. At present, there are limited epidemiological data on upper GI bleed and associated mortality from India, especially in the middle and elderly age group, which has a higher incidence and mortality from this disease. This study aims to study the clinical and endoscopic profile of middle aged and elderly patients suffering from upper GI bleed to know the etiology of the disease and outcome of the intervention. Out of a total of 1790 patients who presented to the hospital from May 2015 to August 2017 with upper GI bleed, and underwent upper GI endoscopy, data of 1270 patients, aged 40 years and above, was compiled and analyzed retrospectively. All the patients included in the study were above 40 years of age. Majority of the patients were males, with a male to female ratio of 1.6:1. The most common causes of upper GI bleed in these patients were portal hypertension-related (esophageal, gastric and duodenal varices, portal hypertensive gastropathy, and gastric antral vascular ectasia GAVE), seen in 53.62% of patients, followed by peptic ulcer disease (gastric and duodenal ulcers) seen in 17.56% of patients. Gastric erosions/gastritis accounted for 15.20%, and duodenal erosions were seen in 5.8% of upper GI bleeds. The in-hospital mortality rate in our study population was 5.83%. The present study reported portal hypertension as the most common cause of upper GI bleeding, while the most common endoscopic lesions reported were esophageal varices, followed by gastric erosion/gastritis, and duodenal ulcer.

The impact of workplace risk factors on the occurrence of neck and upper limb pain: a general population study.

PubMed

Sim, Julius; Lacey, Rosie J; Lewis, Martyn

2006-09-19

Work-related neck and upper limb pain has mainly been studied in specific occupational groups, and little is known about its impact in the general population. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence and population impact of work-related neck and upper limb pain. A cross-sectional survey was conducted of 10,000 adults in North Staffordshire, UK, in which there is a common local manual industry. The primary outcome measure was presence or absence of neck and upper limb pain. Participants were asked to give details of up to five recent jobs, and to report exposure to six work activities involving the neck or upper limbs. Psychosocial measures included job control, demand and support. Odds ratios (ORs) and population attributable fractions were calculated for these risk factors. The age-standardized one-month period prevalence of neck and upper limb pain was 44%. There were significant independent associations between neck and upper limb pain and: repeated lifting of heavy objects (OR = 1.4); prolonged bending of neck (OR = 2.0); working with arms at/above shoulder height (OR = 1.3); little job control (OR = 1.6); and little supervisor support (OR = 1.3). The population attributable fractions were 0.24 (24%) for exposure to work activities and 0.12 (12%) for exposure to psychosocial factors. Neck and upper limb pain is associated with both physical and psychosocial factors in the work environment. Inferences of cause-and-effect from cross-sectional studies must be made with caution; nonetheless, our findings suggest that modification of the work environment might prevent up to one in three of cases of neck and upper limb pain in the general population, depending on current exposures to occupational risk.

Analysis of midpalatal miniscrew-assisted maxillary molar distalization patterns with simultaneous use of fixed appliances: A preliminary study

PubMed Central

Mah, Su-Jung; Kim, Ji-Eun; Ahn, Eun Jin; Nam, Jong-Hyun; Kim, Ji-Young

2016-01-01

Skeletal anchorage-assisted upper molar distalization has become one of the standard treatment modalities for the correction of Class II malocclusion. The purpose of this study was to analyze maxillary molar movement patterns according to appliance design, with the simultaneous use of buccal fixed orthodontic appliances. The authors devised two distinct types of midpalatal miniscrew-assisted maxillary molar distalizers, a lingual arch type and a pendulum type. Fourteen patients treated with one of the two types of distalizers were enrolled in the study, and the patterns of tooth movement associated with each type were compared. Pre- and post-treatment lateral cephalograms were analyzed. The lingual arch type was associated with relatively bodily upper molar distalization, while the pendulum type was associated with distal tipping with intrusion of the upper molar. Clinicians should be aware of the expected tooth movement associated with each appliance design. Further well designed studies with larger sample sizes are required. PMID:26877983

High EDSS can predict risk for upper urinary tract damage in patients with multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Ineichen, Benjamin V; Schneider, Marc P; Hlavica, Martin; Hagenbuch, Niels; Linnebank, Michael; Kessler, Thomas M

2018-04-01

Neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD) is very common in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and it might jeopardize renal function and thereby increase mortality. Although there are well-known urodynamic risk factors for upper urinary tract damage, no clinical prediction parameters are available. We aimed to assess clinical parameters potentially predicting urodynamic risk factors for upper urinary tract damage. A consecutive series of 141 patients with MS referred from neurologists for primary neuro-urological work-up including urodynamics were prospectively evaluated. Clinical parameters taken into account were age, sex, duration, and clinical course of MS and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). Multivariate modeling revealed EDSS as a clinical parameter significantly associated with urodynamic risk factors for upper urinary tract damage (odds ratio = 1.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.06-1.71, p = 0.02). Using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves, an EDSS of 5.0 as cutoff showed a sensitivity of 86%-87% and a specificity of 52% for at least one urodynamic risk factor for upper urinary tract damage. High EDSS is significantly associated with urodynamic risk factors for upper urinary tract damage and allows a risk-dependent stratification in daily neurological clinical practice to identify MS patients requiring further neuro-urological assessment and treatment.

Ergonomic stressors and upper extremity disorders in vehicle manufacturing: cross sectional exposure-response trends

PubMed Central

Punnett, L.

1998-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between upper extremity soft tissue disorders and exposure to preventable ergonomic stressors in vehicle manufacturing operations. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted in one vehicle stamping plant and one engine assembly plant. A standardised physical examination of the upper extremities was performed on all subjects. An interviewer administered questionnaire obtained data on demographics, work history, musculoskeletal symptoms, non-occupational covariates, and psycho-physical (relative intensity) ratings of ergonomic stressors. The primary exposure score was computed by summing the responses to the psychophysical exposure items. Multivariate regression analysis was used to model the prevalence of disorders of the shoulders or upper arms, wrists or hands, and all upper extremity regions (each defined both by symptoms and by physical examination plus symptoms) as a function of exposure quartile. RESULTS: A total of 1315 workers (85% of the target population) was examined. The prevalence of symptom disorders was 22% for the wrists or hands and 15% for the shoulders or upper arms; cases defined on the basis of a physical examination were about 80% as frequent. Disorders of the upper extremities, shoulders, and wrists or hands all increased markedly with exposure score, after adjustment for plant, acute injury, sex, body mass index, systemic disease, and seniority. CONCLUSIONS: Musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremities were strongly associated with exposure to combined ergonomic stressors. The exposure- response trend was very similar for symptom cases and for physical examination cases. It is important to evaluate all dimensions of ergonomic exposure in epidemiological studies, as exposures often occur in combination in actual workplaces.   PMID:9764102

Association between selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and upper gastrointestinal bleeding: population based case-control study

PubMed Central

de Abajo, Francisco José; Rodríguez, Luis Alberto García; Montero, Dolores

1999-01-01

Objective To examine the association between selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Design Population based case-control study. Setting General practices included in the UK general practice research database. Subjects 1651 incident cases of upper gastrointestinal bleeding and 248 cases of ulcer perforation among patients aged 40 to 79 years between April 1993 and September 1997, and 10 000 controls matched for age, sex, and year that the case was identified. Interventions Review of computer profiles for all potential cases, and an internal validation study to confirm the accuracy of the diagnosis on the basis of the computerised information. Main outcome measures Current use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or other antidepressants within 30 days before the index date. Results Current exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors was identified in 3.1% (52 of 1651) of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding but only 1.0% (95 of 10 000) of controls, giving an adjusted rate ratio of 3.0 (95% confidence interval 2.1 to 4.4). This effect measure was not modified by sex, age, dose, or treatment duration. A crude incidence of 1 case per 8000 prescriptions was estimated. A small association was found with non-selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (relative risk 1.4, 1.1 to 1.9) but not with antidepressants lacking this inhibitory effect. None of the groups of antidepressants was associated with ulcer perforation. The concurrent use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs increased the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding beyond the sum of their independent effects (15.6, 6.6 to 36.6). A smaller interaction was also found between selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and low dose aspirin (7.2, 3.1 to 17.1). Conclusions Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors increase the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The absolute effect is, however, moderate and about equivalent to low dose ibuprofen. The concurrent use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or aspirin with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors greatly increases the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. PMID:10531103

The high energy X-ray spectrum of 4U 1700-37 observed from OSO 8

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dolan, J. F.; Coe, M. J.; Crannell, C. J.; Dennis, B. R.; Frost, K. J.; Orwig, L. E.; Maurer, G. S.

1980-01-01

The most intense hard X-ray source in the confused region in Scorpius has been identified as 4U 1700-37 (=HD 153919). Observations extending over three binary periods in 1978 September were carried out with the high-energy X-ray spectrometer on OSO 8. The 3.4 day modulation is seen above 20 keV with the intensity during eclipse being consistent with zero flux. The photonumber spectrum from 20 to 150 keV is well represented by a single power law with a photonumber spectral index of -2.77 + or - 0.35 or by a thermal bremsstrahlung spectrum with kT = 27 (+15, -7)keV. The counting rate above 20 keV outside of eclipse shows no evidence for the 96.8 minute X-ray modulation previously reported at lower energies. Despite the difficulties that exist in reconciling both the lack of periodic modulation in the emitted X-radiation and the orbital dynamics of the system with our currently accepted theories of the evolution and physical properties of neutron stars, the observed properties of 4U 1700-37 are all consistent with the source being a spherically accreting neutron star rather than a black hole.

Trophic niche partitioning of littoral fish species from the rocky intertidal of Helgoland, Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hielscher, N. N.; Malzahn, A. M.; Diekmann, R.; Aberle, N.

2015-12-01

During a 3-year field study, interspecific and interannual differences in the trophic ecology of littoral fish species were investigated in the rocky intertidal of Helgoland island (North Sea). We investigated trophic niche partitioning of common coexisting littoral fish species based on a multi-tracer approach using stable isotope and fatty acids in order to show differences and similarities in resource use and feeding modes. The results of the dual-tracer approach showed clear trophic niche partitioning of the five target fish species, the goldsinny wrasse Ctenolabrus rupestris, the sand goby Pomatoschistus minutus, the painted goby Pomatoschistus pictus, the short-spined sea scorpion Myoxocephalus scorpius and the long-spined sea scorpion Taurulus bubalis. Both stable isotopes and fatty acids showed distinct differences in the trophic ecology of the studied fish species. However, the combined use of the two techniques added an additional resolution on the interannual scale. The sand goby P. minutus showed the largest trophic plasticity with a pronounced variability between years. The present data analysis provides valuable information on trophic niche partitioning of fish species in the littoral zones of Helgoland and on complex benthic food webs in general.

Appearance and possible homing of two species of sculpins in Maine tidepools

USGS Publications Warehouse

Muring, J.R.

2001-01-01

Two species of sculpins (Cottidae), the grubby, Myoxocephalus aenaeus, and the shorthorn sculpin, M. scorpius, were studied in rocky tidepools along the coast of Maine. Fishes were captured and measured during 116 sampling trips between 1979 and 1996. Both of these species of sculpins are from the northwestern Atlantic Ocean and are present in tidepools nearly every month of the year and are the only fish species found in Maine tidepools during winter. Both sculpin species are important components of tidepool ecosystems and dominate the rocky tidepool fish communities from late autumn to early spring, a time when other fish species decline in abundance or are absent. There was no apparent relationship between sculpin abundance and salinity, but the two species of Myoxocephalus were encountered in water temperatures of 1.5 to 18.9??C, with 55.0% of the shorthorn sculpins and 57.3% of the grubbies encountered in tidepools where water temperatures ranged from 12 to 15??C. Between 1988 and 1996, 102 individuals from both species were marked. Of these, 21.3% were recaptured, some repeatedly in the same tidepools and even at specific locations within tidepools over successive tidal cycles - an indication of homing behavior.

Musculoskeletal Complaints in Transverse Upper Limb Reduction Deficiency and Amputation in The Netherlands: Prevalence, Predictors, and Effect on Health.

PubMed

Postema, Sietke G; Bongers, Raoul M; Brouwers, Michael A; Burger, Helena; Norling-Hermansson, Liselotte M; Reneman, Michiel F; Dijkstra, Pieter U; van der Sluis, Corry K

2016-07-01

(1) To determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints (MSCs) in individuals with upper limb absence in The Netherlands, (2) to assess the health status of individuals with upper limb absence in general and in relation to the presence of MSCs, and (3) to explore the predictors of development of MSCs and MSC-related disability in this population. Cross-sectional study: national survey. Twelve rehabilitation centers and orthopedic workshops. Individuals (n=263; mean age, 50.7±16.7y; 60% men) ≥18 years old, with transverse upper limb reduction deficiency (42%) or amputation (58%) at or proximal to the carpal level (response, 45%) and 108 individuals without upper limb reduction deficiency or amputation (n=108; mean age, 50.6±15.7y; 65% men) (N=371). Not applicable. Point and year prevalence of MSCs, MSC-related disability (Pain Disability Index), and general health perception and mental health (RAND-36 subscales). Point and year prevalence of MSCs were almost twice as high in individuals with upper limb absence (57% and 65%, respectively) compared with individuals without upper limb absence (27% and 34%, respectively) and were most often located in the nonaffected limb and upper back/neck. MSCs were associated with decreased general health perception and mental health and higher perceived upper extremity work demands. Prosthesis use was not related to presence of MSCs. Clinically relevant predictors of MSCs were middle age, being divorced/widowed, and lower mental health. Individuals with upper limb absence experienced more MSC-related disability than individuals without upper limb absence. Higher age, more pain, lower general and mental health, and not using a prosthesis were related to higher disability. Presence of MSCs is a frequent problem in individuals with upper limb absence and is associated with decreased general and mental health. Mental health and physical work demands should be taken into account when assessing such a patient. Clinicians should note that MSC-related disability increases with age. Copyright © 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

High-frequency Plasma Waves Associated with Magnetic Reconnection in the Solar Wind

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Y.

2015-12-01

Activities of high-frequency plasma waves associated with magnetic reconnection in the solar wind observed by Time Domain Sampler (TDS) experiments on STEREO/WAVES are preliminarily analyzed. The TDS instrument can provide burst mode electric fields data with as long as 16384 sample points at 250 kHz sampling rate. In all 1120 suspected reconnection events, it is found that the most commonly occurred waves are neither ion acoustic waves, electrostatic solitary waves, nor Langmuir/upper hybrid waves, but Bernstein-like waves with harmonics of the electron cyclotron frequency. In addition, to each type of waves, Langmuir/upper hybrid waves reveal the largest occurrence rate in the reconnection region than in the ambient solar wind. These results indicate that Bernstein-like waves and Langmuir/upper hybrid waves might play important roles in the reconnection associated particle heating processes and they might also influence the dissipation of magnetic reconnection.

Methods of Testing Thermal Insulation and Associated Test Apparatus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fesmire, James E. (Inventor); Augustynowicz, Stanislaw D. (Inventor)

2004-01-01

The system and method for testing thermal insulation uses a cryostatic insulation tester having a vacuum chamber and a cold mass including a test chamber and upper and lower guard chambers adjacent thereto. The thermal insulation is positioned within the vacuum chamber and adjacent the cold mass. Cryogenic liquid is supplied to the test chamber, upper guard and lower guard to create a first gas layer in an upper portion of the lower guard chamber and a second gas layer in an upper portion of the test chamber. Temperature are sensed within the vacuum chamber to test the thermal insulation.

Respiratory Problems Associated with Surfing in Coastal Waters.

PubMed

O'Halloran, Chris; Silver, Mary W; Lahiff, Maureen; Colford, John

2017-03-01

A pilot project was conducted to examine the health status and possible adverse health effects associated with seawater exposure (microbial water-quality indicators and phytoplankton abundance and their toxins) of surfers in Monterey Bay, Central California coastal waters. Forty-eight surfers enrolled in the study and completed an initial health background survey and weekly health surveys online using Survey Monkey. Descriptive statistics and generalized estimating equation, a regression technique, were used to identify longitudinal and correlated results. The surfers were predominately Caucasian, male, and physically active. They surfed approximately 4 h a week. Their average age was 34 years. The data indicated that the surfers were generally "healthy," with a low prevalence of diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension. Their most common health problems were allergies and asthma. During the study, 10% of the surfers reported gastrointestinal symptoms and 29% reported upper respiratory symptoms. This study suggests surfers were significantly more likely to report upper respiratory symptoms when they had a history of allergies, housemates with upper respiratory symptoms, and/or a history of previous adverse health symptoms while surfing during a "red tide" (an event often associated with the presence of phytoplankton toxins). Additionally, female surfers reported upper respiratory symptoms more than males.

[Hospital mortality associated with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to ruptured esophageal varices at the Lomé Campus Hospital in Togo].

PubMed

Bouglouga, O; Bagny, A; Lawson-Ananissoh, L; Djibril, M

2014-01-01

To study hospital mortality associated with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhages due to variceal bleeding in the department of hepatology and gastroenterology at the Lome Campus University Hospital. This retrospective cross-sectional and analytic study examined the 55 patients admitted for variceal bleeding on upper endoscopies during the 3-year period from January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2010. These patients accounted for 4.1% of all hospitalizations during the study period in the department. Their average age was 35 years, and their sex-ratio 4. A history of chronic liver disease was found in 65.5%. Liver cirrhosis was the principal cause of the esophageal varices, complicated by hepatocellular carcinoma in 30.9% of them. The mortality rate was 25.5% and was not related to the cause of portal hypertension. All the patients with a recurrence of bleeding died. Mortality was associated with jaundice. Blood transfusion did not significantly improve the prognosis. the mortality rate among patients with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage linked to variceal bleeding is high in our unit. The prevention of hepatitis virus B is important because it is the main cause of chronic liver disease causing portal hypertension in our department.

Relative incidence of phlebitis associated with peripheral intravenous catheters in the lower versus upper extremities.

PubMed

Benaya, A; Schwartz, Y; Kory, R; Yinnon, A M; Ben-Chetrit, E

2015-05-01

Peripheral venous access in elderly, hospitalized patients is often challenging. The usual alternative is insertion of a central venous catheter, with associated risk for complications. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relative incidence of phlebitis secondary to lower as compared to upper extremity intravenous catheters (IVCs) and associated risk factors. A non-randomized, observational, cohort-controlled study was carried out. Consecutive patients receiving a lower extremity IVC were enrolled and compared with patients receiving an upper extremity IVC. Patients were followed from insertion until removal of the IVC. The major endpoint was phlebitis. The incidence of phlebitis secondary to upper extremity IVCs was 3/50 (6 %) compared to 5/53 (9.4 %) in lower extremity IVCs (χ(2) Yates = 0.08, p = 0.776). Age, gender, obesity, diabetes mellitus, site (arm versus leg, left versus right), and size of needle were not found to be risk factors for phlebitis according to univariate analysis. None of the patients developed bloodstream infection. In elderly patients with poor venous access, lower extremity IVCs are a reasonable and low-risk alternative to central venous catheters.

Upper body fat predicts metabolic syndrome similarly in men and women.

PubMed

Grundy, Scott M; Williams, Corbin; Vega, Gloria L

2018-04-23

The metabolic syndrome is a constellation of risk factors including dyslipidemia, dysglycemia, hypertension, a pro-inflammatory state, and a prothrombotic state. All of these factors are accentuated by obesity. However, obesity can be defined by body mass index (BMI), percent body fat, or by body fat distribution. The latter consists of upper body fat (subcutaneous and visceral fat) and lower body fat (gluteofemoral fat). Waist circumference is a common surrogate marker for upper body fat. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the years 1999-2006 was examined for associations of metabolic risk factors with percent body fat, waist circumference, and BMI. Associations between absolute measures of waist circumference and risk factors were similiar for men and women. The similarities of associations between waist circumference and risk factors suggests that greater visceral fat in men does not accentuate the influence of upper body fat on risk factors. Different waist concumference values should not be used to define abdominal obesity in men and women. © 2018 The Authors. European Journal of Clinical Investigation published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation.

Modeling Associations between Principals' Reported Indoor Environmental Quality and Students' Self-Reported Respiratory Health Outcomes Using GLMM and ZIP Models.

PubMed

Toyinbo, Oluyemi; Matilainen, Markus; Turunen, Mari; Putus, Tuula; Shaughnessy, Richard; Haverinen-Shaughnessy, Ulla

2016-03-30

The aim of this paper was to examine associations between school building characteristics, indoor environmental quality (IEQ), and health responses using questionnaire data from both school principals and students. From 334 randomly sampled schools, 4248 sixth grade students from 297 schools participated in a questionnaire. From these schools, 134 principals returned questionnaires concerning 51 IEQ related questions of their school. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) were used to study the associations between IEQ indicators and existence of self-reported upper respiratory symptoms, while hierarchical Zero Inflated Poisson (ZIP)-models were used to model the number of symptoms. Significant associations were established between existence of upper respiratory symptoms and unsatisfactory classroom temperature during the heating season (ORs 1.45 for too hot and cold, and 1.27 for too cold as compared to satisfactory temperature) and dampness or moisture damage during the year 2006-2007 (OR: 1.80 as compared to no moisture damage), respectively. The number of upper respiratory symptoms was significantly associated with inadequate ventilation and dampness or moisture damage. A higher number of missed school days due to respiratory infections were reported in schools with inadequate ventilation (RR: 1.16). The school level IEQ indicator variables described in this paper could explain a relatively large part of the school level variation observed in the self-reported upper respiratory symptoms and missed school days due to respiratory infections among students.

Modeling Associations between Principals’ Reported Indoor Environmental Quality and Students’ Self-Reported Respiratory Health Outcomes Using GLMM and ZIP Models

PubMed Central

Toyinbo, Oluyemi; Matilainen, Markus; Turunen, Mari; Putus, Tuula; Shaughnessy, Richard; Haverinen-Shaughnessy, Ulla

2016-01-01

Background: The aim of this paper was to examine associations between school building characteristics, indoor environmental quality (IEQ), and health responses using questionnaire data from both school principals and students. Methods: From 334 randomly sampled schools, 4248 sixth grade students from 297 schools participated in a questionnaire. From these schools, 134 principals returned questionnaires concerning 51 IEQ related questions of their school. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) were used to study the associations between IEQ indicators and existence of self-reported upper respiratory symptoms, while hierarchical Zero Inflated Poisson (ZIP)—models were used to model the number of symptoms. Results: Significant associations were established between existence of upper respiratory symptoms and unsatisfactory classroom temperature during the heating season (ORs 1.45 for too hot and cold, and 1.27 for too cold as compared to satisfactory temperature) and dampness or moisture damage during the year 2006–2007 (OR: 1.80 as compared to no moisture damage), respectively. The number of upper respiratory symptoms was significantly associated with inadequate ventilation and dampness or moisture damage. A higher number of missed school days due to respiratory infections were reported in schools with inadequate ventilation (RR: 1.16). Conclusions: The school level IEQ indicator variables described in this paper could explain a relatively large part of the school level variation observed in the self-reported upper respiratory symptoms and missed school days due to respiratory infections among students. PMID:27043595

[COMPLICATIONS OF STENTINGOF UPPER URINARY TRACT].

PubMed

Shkodkin, S V; Kogan, M I; Lyubushkin, A V; Miroshnichenko, O V

2015-01-01

Restoring the passage of urine through the upper urinary tract routinely is achieved by installing of external or internal drainage. Due to its objective advantages, internal drainage has been successfully used in surgery of the upper urinary tract. This review outlines the problems associated with the use ofinternal stents, namely difficultyin installation, migration, and reflux and stent obstruction, bacterial colonization of the stent, the development of functional and morphological changes in the drained segment of urinary tract.

Upper limb function in persons with long term paraplegia and implications for independence: Part II.

PubMed

Pentland, W E; Twomey, L T

1994-04-01

Research has shown that wheelchair use in long term paraplegia is associated with upper limb pain and degeneration that interferes with the independent performance of activities of daily living. This paper proposes a model to explain the development of upper limb problems in persons with long term paraplegia, and one that will guide in the prevention and management of this type of long term complication.

Associations of occupational standing with musculoskeletal symptoms: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

PubMed

Coenen, Pieter; Willenberg, Lisa; Parry, Sharon; Shi, Joyce W; Romero, Lorena; Blackwood, Diana M; Maher, Christopher G; Healy, Genevieve N; Dunstan, David W; Straker, Leon M

2018-02-01

Given the high exposure to occupational standing in specific occupations, and recent initiatives to encourage intermittent standing among white-collar workers, a better understanding of the potential health consequences of occupational standing is required. We aimed to review and quantify the epidemiological evidence on associations of occupational standing with musculoskeletal symptoms. A systematic review was performed. Data from included articles were extracted and described, and meta-analyses conducted when data were sufficiently homogeneous. Electronic databases were systematically searched. Peer-reviewed articles on occupational standing and musculoskeletal symptoms from epidemiological studies were identified. Of the 11 750 articles screened, 50 articles reporting 49 studies were included (45 cross-sectional and 5 longitudinal; n=88 158 participants) describing the associations of occupational standing with musculoskeletal symptoms, including low-back (39 articles), lower extremity (14 articles) and upper extremity (18 articles) symptoms. In the meta-analysis, 'substantial' (>4 hours/workday) occupational standing was associated with the occurrence of low-back symptoms (pooled OR (95% CI) 1.31 (1.10 to 1.56)). Evidence on lower and upper extremity symptoms was too heterogeneous for meta-analyses. The majority of included studies reported statistically significant detrimental associations of occupational standing with lower extremity, but not with upper extremity symptoms. The evidence suggests that substantial occupational standing is associated with the occurrence of low-back and (inconclusively) lower extremity symptoms, but there may not be such an association with upper extremity symptoms. However, these conclusions are tentative as only limited evidence was found from high-quality, longitudinal studies with fully adjusted models using objective measures of standing. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Proton pump inhibitors in prevention of low-dose aspirin-associated upper gastrointestinal injuries

PubMed Central

Mo, Chen; Sun, Gang; Lu, Ming-Liang; Zhang, Li; Wang, Yan-Zhi; Sun, Xi; Yang, Yun-Sheng

2015-01-01

AIM: To determine the preventive effect and safety of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in low-dose aspirin (LDA)-associated gastrointestinal (GI) ulcers and bleeding. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register from inception to December 2013, and checked conference abstracts of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effect of PPIs in reducing adverse GI events (hemorrhage, ulcer, perforation, or obstruction) in patients taking LDA. The preventive effects of PPIs were compared with the control group [taking placebo, a cytoprotective agent, or an H2 receptor antagonist (H2RA)] in LDA-associated upper GI injuries. The meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1 software. RESULTS: We evaluated 8780 participants in 10 RCTs. The meta-analysis showed that PPIs decreased the risk of LDA-associated upper GI ulcers (OR = 0.16; 95%CI: 0.12-0.23) and bleeding (OR = 0.27; 95%CI: 0.16-0.43) compared with control. For patients treated with dual anti-platelet therapy of LDA and clopidogrel, PPIs were able to prevent the LDA-associated GI bleeding (OR = 0.36; 95%CI: 0.15-0.87) without increasing the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) (OR = 1.00; 95%CI: 0.76-1.31). PPIs were superior to H2RA in prevention of LDA-associated GI ulcers (OR = 0.12; 95%CI: 0.02-0.65) and bleeding (OR = 0.32; 95%CI: 0.13-0.79). CONCLUSION: PPIs are effective in preventing LDA-associated upper GI ulcers and bleeding. Concomitant use of PPI, LDA and clopidogrel did not increase the risk of MACE. PMID:25954113

What is the most effective posture to conduct vibration from the lower to the upper extremities during whole-body vibration exercise?

PubMed Central

Tsukahara, Yuka; Iwamoto, Jun; Iwashita, Kosui; Shinjo, Takuma; Azuma, Koichiro; Matsumoto, Hideo

2016-01-01

Background Whole-body vibration (WBV) exercise is widely used for training and rehabilitation. However, the optimal posture for training both the upper and lower extremities simultaneously remains to be established. Objectives The objective of this study was to search for an effective posture to conduct vibration from the lower to the upper extremities while performing WBV exercises without any adverse effects. Methods Twelve healthy volunteers (age: 22–34 years) were enrolled in the study. To measure the magnitude of vibration, four accelerometers were attached to the upper arm, back, thigh, and calf of each subject. Vibrations were produced using a WBV platform (Galileo 900) with an amplitude of 4 mm at two frequencies, 15 and 30 Hz. The following three postures were examined: posture A, standing posture with the knees flexed at 30°; posture B, crouching position with no direct contact between the knees and elbows; and posture C, crouching position with direct contact between the knees and elbows. The ratio of the magnitude of vibration at the thigh, back, and upper arm relative to that at the calf was used as an index of vibration conduction. Results Posture B was associated with a greater magnitude of vibration to the calf than posture A at 15 Hz, and postures B and C were associated with greater magnitudes of vibration than posture A at 30 Hz. Posture C was associated with a vibration conduction to the upper arm that was 4.62 times and 8.26 times greater than that for posture A at 15 and 30 Hz, respectively. Conclusion This study revealed that a crouching position on a WBV platform with direct contact between the knees and elbows was effective for conducting vibration from the lower to the upper extremities. PMID:26793008

Prevalence and associations of symptoms of upper extremities, repetitive strain injuries (RSI) and 'RSI-like condition'. A cross sectional study of bank workers in Northeast Brazil.

PubMed

Lacerda, Eliana M; Nácul, Luis C; Augusto, Lia G da S; Olinto, Maria Teresa A; Rocha, Dyhanne C; Wanderley, Danielle C

2005-10-11

The repetitive strain injury syndrome (RSI) is a worldwide occupational health problem affecting all types of economic activities. We investigated the prevalence and some risk factors for RSI and related conditions, namely 'symptoms of upper limbs' and 'RSI-like condition'. We conducted a cross-sectional study with 395 bank workers in Recife, Northeast Brazil. Symptoms of upper limbs and 'RSI-like condition' were assessed by a simple questionnaire, which was used to screen probable cases of RSI. The diagnosis of RSI was confirmed by clinical examination. The associations of potential risk factors and the outcomes were assessed by multiple logistic regression analysis. We found prevalence rates of 56% for symptoms of the upper limbs and 30% for 'RSI-like condition'. The estimated prevalence of clinically confirmed cases of RSI was 22%. Female sex and occupation (as cashier or clerk) increased the risk of all conditions, but the associations were stronger for cases of RSI than for less specific diagnoses of 'RSI-like condition' and symptoms of upper limbs. Age was inversely related to the risk of symptoms of upper limbs but not to 'RSI-like' or RSI. The variation in the magnitude of risk according to the outcome assessed suggests that previous studies using different definitions may not be immediately comparable. We propose the use of a simple instrument to screen cases of RSI in population based studies, which still needs to be validated in other populations. The high prevalence of RSI and related conditions in this population suggests the need for urgent interventions to tackle the problem, which could be directed to individuals at higher risk and to changes in the work organization and environment of the general population.

Visual, Physiological, and Aesthetic Factors and Pitfalls in Asian Blepharoplasty

PubMed Central

Chen, William Pai-Dei

2016-01-01

Double eyelid surgery to create an upper-lid crease in Asian patients is one of the more popular aesthetic surgeries among people of Asian descent. Much has been written about the myriad methods, but little has been written about the underlying factors that predispose a patient to complications and suboptimal results. This article touches on some of the possible errors in placement of crease height in upper blepharoplasty and the pitfalls that can be associated with permanent placement of nondissolvable sutures that encircle the complex layers of the upper eyelid, as well as the ideal eyelid crease wound closure and its biodynamics. One should consider these factors in any form of upper eyelid procedure, as they are not merely applicable to upper blepharoplasty. PMID:26673576

System and method for inventorying multiple remote objects

DOEpatents

Carrender, Curtis L.; Gilbert, Ronald W.

2007-10-23

A system and method of inventorying multiple objects utilizing a multi-level or a chained radio frequency identification system. The system includes a master tag and a plurality of upper level tags and lower level tags associated with respective objects. The upper and lower level tags communicate with each other and the master tag so that reading of the master tag reveals the presence and absence of upper and lower level tags. In the chained RF system, the upper and lower level tags communicate locally with each other in a manner so that more remote tags that are out of range of some of the upper and lower level tags have their information relayed through adjacent tags to the master tag and thence to a controller.

System and method for inventorying multiple remote objects

DOEpatents

Carrender, Curtis L [Morgan Hill, CA; Gilbert, Ronald W [Morgan Hill, CA

2009-12-29

A system and method of inventorying multiple objects utilizing a multi-level or a chained radio frequency identification system. The system includes a master tag and a plurality of upper level tags and lower level tags associated with respective objects. The upper and lower level tags communicate with each other and the master tag so that reading of the master tag reveals the presence and absence of upper and lower level tags. In the chained RF system, the upper and lower level tags communicate locally with each other in a manner so that more remote tags that are out of range of some of the upper and lower level tags have their information relayed through adjacent tags to the master tag and thence to a controller.

Association between Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Disorders and Psychosocial Factors at Work: A Review on the Job DCS Model's Perspective.

PubMed

Park, Jung-Keun; Jang, Seung-Hee

2010-09-01

Over years it has been increasingly concerned with how upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (UEMSDs) are attributed to psychosocial job stressors. A review study was conducted to examine associations between UEMSDs and psychosocial work factors, and to recommend what to consider for the associations. For studies in which the job demand-control-support (DCS) model or its variables were specifically employed, published papers were selected and reviewed. A number of studies have reported relationships between UEMSDs symptoms and psychosocial exposure variables. For example, the findings are: higher numbness in the upper extremity was significantly attributed to by less decision latitude at work; work demands were significantly associated with neck and shoulder symptoms while control over time was associated with neck symptoms; and the combination of high psychosocial demands and low decision latitude was a significant predictor for shoulder and neck pain in a female working population. Sources of bias, such as interaction or study design, were discussed. UEMSDs were shown to be associated with psychosocial work factors in various studies where the job DCS model was addressed. Nonetheless, this review suggests that further studies should be conducted to much more clarify the association between UEMSDs and psychosocial factors.

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages and microfacies analysis of the Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene (?) platform carbonate sequence in the Central Taurides, S Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solak, Cemile; Taslı, Kemal; Koç, Hayati

2017-04-01

The Upper Cretaceous succession outcropping in the area known as Anamas-Akseki Autochton or Geyikdaǧı Unit, which is situated western part of the Central Taurides, consists of approximately 500 m thick purely platform carbonate sediments. Integrated microfacies/facies studies and biostratigraphic analysis of the Kuyucak stratigraphic section provided to recognise depositional settings and benthic foraminiferal biozones. The Upper Cretaceous begins with Cenomanian limestones intercalated with limestone breccias (Unit 1) containing mainly Pseudorhapydionina dubia, Cuneolina pavonia, Nezzazata simplex (Association 1) and unconformably overlies the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian-Aptian) limestones with Vercorsella laurentii, Praechrysalidina infracretacea and Salpingoporella hasi. The Cenomanian limestones include benthic foraminiferal packstone/wackestone, peloidal packstone/wackestone and mudstone microfacies deposited restricted platform conditions. Intercalations of emersion breccias suggest sporadic subaerial exposure of the platform. The Cenomanian succession are truncated by an unconformity characterised by locale bauxite infills. Immediately above the unconformable surface, dolomitic limestones and rudistid limestones (Unit 2) are assigned to the upper Campanian based on the benthic foraminiferal assemblage (Association 2) comprising mainly Murciella cuvillieri, Pseudocyclammina sphaeroidea, Accordiella conica, Scandonea samnitica and Fleuryana adriatica. The upper Campanian limestones composed of dominantly benthic foraminiferal packstone/wackestone microfacies deposited in shallow water environments with low water energy, subjected to restriction in water circulation, The following limestones of the Unit 2 is characterised by sporadic intercalation of "open shelf" Orbitoides, Omphalocyclus, Siderolites assemblage (Association 3), assigned to the Maastrichtian, in addition to pre-existing "restricted platform" species. Pseudedomia hekimhanensis and Helenocyclina beotica are occasionally accompanied this association. In the upper half of this biozone, the Rhapydionina liburnica subzone (Association 3b) is distinguished by the first occurences of Valvulina aff. triangularis, Loftusia minor as well as the nominal species. The Maastrichtian limestones with sporadically open marine influence consist mostly of bioclastic/microbioclastic (rudist-bearing) wackestone/packstone/grainstone, benthic foraminiferal packstone/wackestone with rudist fragments and peloidal/intraclastic packstone/wackestone microfacies deposited in shallow subtidal-subtidal (lagoonal) environments characterised by different hydrodynamic regimes (low to high energy). The Upper Cretaceous succession passes upwardly into 70 meters thick limestones and clayey limestones (Unit 3) which do not contain rudists and pre-existing foraminiferal assemblage with one exception Valvulina aff. triangularis. Variable amounts of ostracoda, Discorbidae, Miliolidae, dasycladacean algae and Stomatorbina sp. (Association 4) occur into muddy-rich microfacies suggesting restricted conditions with low water energy. A probable Paleocene age is proposed for the Unit 3 based on the occurence of Valvulina aff. triangularis and Stomatorbina sp. which were previously recorded from Paleocene of peri-Tethian platforms. The Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene(?) platform carbonate succession is unconformably overlain by conglomerate, limestone with Nummulites and siliciclastic sediments of the Eocene age. We thank to the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) for a financial support with project no:115Y130.

Optimal timing of vitamin K antagonist resumption after upper gastrointestinal bleeding. A risk modelling analysis.

PubMed

Majeed, Ammar; Wallvik, Niklas; Eriksson, Joakim; Höijer, Jonas; Bottai, Matteo; Holmström, Margareta; Schulman, Sam

2017-02-28

The optimal timing of vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) resumption after an upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, in patients with continued indication for oral anticoagulation, is uncertain. We included consecutive cases of VKA-associated upper GI bleeding from three hospitals retrospectively. Data on the bleeding location, timing of VKA resumption, recurrent GI bleeding and thromboembolic events were collected. A model was constructed to evaluate the 'total risk', based on the sum of the cumulative rates of recurrent GI bleeding and thromboembolic events, depending on the timing of VKA resumption. A total of 121 (58 %) of 207 patients with VKA-associated upper GI bleeding were restarted on anticoagulation after a median (interquartile range) of one (0.2-3.4) week after the index bleeding. Restarting VKAs was associated with a reduced risk of thromboembolism (HR 0.19; 95 % CI, 0.07-0.55) and death (HR 0.61; 95 % CI, 0.39-0.94), but with an increased risk of recurrent GI bleeding (HR 2.5; 95 % CI, 1.4-4.5). The composite risk obtained from the combined statistical model of recurrent GI bleeding, and thromboembolism decreased if VKAs were resumed after three weeks and reached a nadir at six weeks after the index GI bleeding. On this background we will discuss how the disutility of the outcomes may influence the decision regarding timing of resumption. In conclusion, the optimal timing of VKA resumption after VKA-associated upper GI bleeding appears to be between 3-6 weeks after the index bleeding event but has to take into account the degree of thromboembolic risk, patient values and preferences.

Clinical pattern and prevalence of upper gastrointestinal toxicity in patients abusing ketamine.

PubMed

Liu, Shirley Yuk Wah; Ng, Stephen Ka Kei; Tam, Yuk Him; Yee, Samuel Chi Hang; Lai, Franco Pui Tak; Hong, Cindy Yuek Lam; Chiu, Philip Wai Yan; Ng, Enders Kwok Wai; Ng, Chi Fai

2017-09-01

Evaluations of upper gastrointestinal toxicity from ketamine abuse are uncommon. This study investigated the clinical pattern of upper gastrointestinal symptoms in patients inhaling ketamine. In a cross-sectional study of 611 consecutive patients who were seeking treatment for ketamine uropathy in a tertiary hospital setting between August 2008 and June 2016, their clinical pattern of upper gastrointestinal symptoms was evaluated and compared with a control population of 804 non-users. A total of 168 (27.5%) patients abusing ketamine (mean age 26.3 years, 58.9% female) reported the presence of upper gastrointestinal symptoms. These symptoms were significantly more prevalent in patients inhaling ketamine than in those who were not (27.5% vs 5.2%, P < 0.001). Their mean duration of ketamine abuse before symptom presentation was 5.0 ± 3.1 years. The presenting symptoms included epigastric pain (n = 155, 25.4%), recurrent vomiting (n = 48, 7.9%), anemia (n = 36, 5.9%) and gastrointestinal bleeding (n = 20, 3.3%). Uropathy symptoms were preceded by upper gastrointestinal symptoms for 4.4 ± 3.0 years in 141 (83.9%) patients. Logistic regression showed that elder age (odds ratio [OR] 1.06, P = 0.04), active abuser status (OR 1.60, P = 0.04) and longer duration of ketamine abuse (OR 1.00, P = 0.04) were independent factors associated with upper gastrointestinal toxicity. Although epigastric symptoms are unusual in the young population, upper gastrointestinal toxicity was highly prevalent in those inhaling ketamine. Enquiries about ketamine abuse are recommended when assessing young patients with epigastric symptoms. © 2017 Chinese Medical Association Shanghai Branch, Chinese Society of Gastroenterology, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Mechanical properties of the trapezius during scapular elevation in people with chronic whiplash associated disorders--A case-control ultrasound speckle tracking analysis.

PubMed

Landén Ludvigsson, Maria; Peterson, Gunnel; Jull, Gwendolen; Trygg, Johan; Peolsson, Anneli

2016-02-01

Approximately 50% of people with Whiplash Associated Disorders (WAD) report longstanding symptoms. The upper trapezius is commonly painful yet its mechanical properties are not fully understood. This study examined the deformation of different depths of the upper trapezius muscle during a scapular elevation task (shoulder shrugging) before and following loaded arm abduction. A cross-sectional case-control study of 36 people (26 female and 10 male, mean age 38 (SD 11)) with chronic WAD and 36 controls, matched for age and gender. Real-time ultrasound recordings of upper trapezius were taken during both scapular elevation tasks. Post-process speckle tracking analysis was undertaken of three different sections of the upper trapezius muscle (superficial, middle, deep). The WAD group had lower deformation of the superficial section of the upper trapezius compared to the control group in both concentric and eccentric phases of scapular elevation (p < 0.05) especially before the loaded arm abduction. After arm abduction, the deformation of the trapezius was reduced in both groups but only significantly in the WAD-group (p = 0.03). Within-group analysis revealed that the control group least engaged the deep section of upper trapezius during the task (p < 0.01). This study, measuring mechanical deformation of the upper trapezius during a scapular elevation task indicates that persons with WAD may display different patterns in engagement of the muscle sections than those in the control group. Further research is needed to replicate and understand the reasons for and implications of this possible change in motor strategy within upper trapezius. Clinical Trials.gov, Number: NCT01547624. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Upper Eyelid Tarsus and Lid Wiper Dimensions.

PubMed

Navascues-Cornago, Maria; Maldonado-Codina, Carole; Gupta, Ruchi; Morgan, Philip B

2016-09-01

To measure various dimensions of the upper tarsal plate and the area of upper lid wiper staining. The repeatability of the method of measurement was investigated. Thirty-five healthy non-contact lens wearers were enrolled. The following parameters were measured from digital images of the upper eyelid captured with a slitlamp camera: length, height, and total area of the tarsal plate and area of lid wiper staining (lissamine green). Measurements were performed in a randomized and masked fashion on two separate occasions by the same investigator using ImageJ (National Institutes of Health). Coefficients of repeatability (COR) were calculated. The dimensions (mean±SD) of the tarsal plate were 20.6±1.9 mm length, 7.9±0.8 mm height, and 103.3±18.8 mm total area. The area of lid wiper staining was 2.7±2.0 mm. No association was found between tarsal dimensions and lid wiper staining (all P>0.05). Image analysis COR values were 0.6 mm tarsal length, 0.1 mm tarsal height, 1.2 mm tarsal area, and 0.4 mm lid wiper staining. There was no significant difference between repeated measurements for any parameter (all P>0.05). Limits of agreement were narrow for all parameters, indicating good agreement between repeated measurements. This work has demonstrated that there is a wide range in the dimensions of the upper tarsal plate in an urban UK population. No association was found between the upper tarsal dimensions and lid wiper staining. ImageJ was shown to be a repeatable method to measure the dimensions of the upper tarsal plate and upper lid wiper staining.

An Index of Ecological Condition Based on Great River Fish Assemblages

EPA Science Inventory

I will be presenting this talk at a workshop titled: Examining biological indicators for the Upper Mississippi River: Applications in Clean Water Act (CWA) and ecosystem restoration programs. This workshop is sponsored by the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association to frame th...

Service Learning in Domestic and International Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Kari Knutson; Gonzalez, Amber M.

2009-01-01

This paper examines pre-service teacher outcomes associated with service learning in domestic and international settings. One group of upper-division undergraduate level pre service teachers participated in supervised experiences in domestic settings. A second group of upper-division undergraduate level pre-service teachers participated in…

Survey of Hand and Upper Extremity Injuries Among Rock Climbers.

PubMed

Nelson, Clayton E; Rayan, Ghazi M; Judd, Dustin I; Ding, Kai; Stoner, Julie A

2017-07-01

Rock climbing first evolved as a sport in the late 18th century. With its growing popularity, the number of rock climbing-related injuries has potential to increase, spurring a rise in the number of articles associated with it. Despite the available literature, there remains a paucity of information about upper extremity injuries sustained by rock climbers, and no studies to date have focused on gender-specific injuries. A 24-question online survey was distributed to rock climbers about upper extremity injuries sustained during rock climbing. Statistical analysis was used to study association between participants' demographics and injuries. A total of 397 participants responded to the survey. Mean age was 32.5 years with males comprising 85%. No significant differences in demographics or climbing behaviors were found between males and females. Ninety percent of participants reported sustaining an upper extremity injury. Fingers were the most common injury followed by shoulder/arm and elbow/forearm. Our study found females to be more likely to report a rock climbing-related injury, and more likely to undergo surgery for it. Female rock climbers were significantly more likely to report a shoulder/upper arm injury and were also more likely to report undergoing surgery compared with males, where these differences were not due to age or climbing behaviors. Further investigation is warranted into the association between shoulder injuries and female athletes to determine how the gender differences relate to extent of injury as well as health service utilization behaviors.

The New 30 Doradus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walborn, N. R.; Barbá, R. H.

A groundbased, blue-violet spectral classification study of the 30 Doradus stellar content has revealed five spatially and/or temporally distinct components: (1) the central ionizing cluster including R136 (corresponding to the Carina phase of OB cluster evolution with an age of 2-3 Myr); (2) a younger generation in or near the bright nebular filaments west and northeast of R136, containing heavily embedded early-O dwarfs and IR sources, the formation of which was likely triggered by the central cluster (Orion phase, <1 Myr); (3) an older population of late-O and early-B supergiants throughout the central field whose structural relationship, if any, to the younger groups is unclear (Scorpius OB1 phase, 4-6 Myr); (4) a previously known, older still compact cluster 3' northwest of R136, containing A and M supergiants and evidently affecting the nebular dynamics substantially (h and chi Persei phase, 10 Myr); and (5) a newly recognized Sco OB1-phase association surrounding the recently discovered Luminous Blue Variable R143 in the southern part of the Nebula. Evidently, star formation has occurred in discrete events at different epochs in 30 Dor, and there are clear implications for the interpretation of more distant starbursts. This presentation emphasizes the second component above, a new stellar generation currently being formed in 30 Doradus. Groundbased IR images by Rubio et al. and H2 observations by Probst and Rubio show many sources, with detailed relationships to the embedded optical O stars as well as to the nebular microstructures visible in HST/WFPC2 images. Recent observations of these fields with HST/NICMOS reveal an even greater wealth of structural detail, including compact IR multiple systems and clusters, and probable jets associated with two of the embedded early-O systems; one of the latter may also be related to an H2O maser source. These and future IR data will provide new insights into the evolution of starbursts on the scale of 30 Doradus, as well as the early evolution of individual massive stars and compact groups.

Timescales of Disk Evolution and Planet Formation: HST, Adaptive Optics, and ISO Observations of Weak-Line and Post-T Tauri Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandner, Wolfgang; Zinnecker, Hans; Alcalá, Juan M.; Allard, France; Covino, Elvira; Frink, Sabine; Köhler, Rainer; Kunkel, Michael; Moneti, Andrea; Schweitzer, Andreas

2000-08-01

We present high spatial resolution HST and ground-based adaptive optics observations and high-sensitivity ISO (ISOCAM & ISOPHOT) observations of a sample of X-ray selected weak-line (WTTS) and post- (PTTS) T Tauri stars located in the nearby Chamaeleon T and Scorpius-Centaurus OB associations. HST/NICMOS and adaptive optics observations aimed at identifying substellar companions (young brown dwarfs) at separations >=30 AU from the primary stars. No such objects were found within 300 AU of any of the target stars, and a number of faint objects at larger separations can very likely be attributed to a population of field (background) stars. ISOCAM observations of 5 to 15 Myr old WTTSs and PTTSs in ScoCen reveal infrared excesses which are clearly above photospheric levels and which have a spectral index intermediate between that of younger (1 to 5 Myr) T Tauri stars in Chamaeleon and that of pure stellar photospheres. The difference in the spectral index of the older PTTSs in ScoCen compared with the younger classical and weak-line TTSs in Cha can be attributed to a deficiency of smaller size (0.1 to 1 μm) dust grains relative to larger size (~5 μm) dust grains in the disks of the PTTSs. The lack of small dust grains is either due to the environment (effect of nearby O stars and supernova explosions) or due to disk evolution. If the latter is the case, it would hint that circumstellar disks start to become dust depleted at an age between 5 to 15 Myr. Dust depletion is very likely related to the build-up of larger particles (ultimately rocks and planetesimals) and thus an indicator for the onset of the period of planet formation. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under the NASA contract NAS 5-26555, observations at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla (ESO Prop ID 58.E-0169), and observations with ESA's Infrared Space Observatory.

Middle and upper Miocene natural gas sands in onshore and offshore Alabama

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mink, R.M.; Mancini, E.A.; Bearden, B.L.

1988-09-01

Thirty Miocene natural gas fields have been established in onshore and offshore Alabama since the discovery of Miocene gas in this area in 1979. These fields have produced over 16 bcf of natural gas from the middle Miocene Amos sand (24 fields) and upper Miocene Luce (3 fields), Escambia (1 field), and Meyer (3 fields) sands. Production from the Amos transgressive sands represents over 92% of the cumulative shallow Miocene natural gas produced in onshore and offshore Alabama. In addition, over 127 bcf of natural gas has been produced from upper Miocene sands in the Chandeleur area. The productive Miocenemore » section in onshore and coastal Alabama is interpreted to present transgressive marine shelf and regressive shoreface sands. The middle Miocene Amos sand bars are the most productive reservoirs of natural gas in onshore and coastal Alabama, principally due to the porous and permeable nature of these transgressive sands and their stratigraphic relationship to the underlying basinal clays in this area. In offshore Alabama the upper Miocene sands become thicker and are generally more porous and permeable than their onshore equivalents. Because of their deeper burial depth in offshore Alabama, these upper Miocene sands are associated with marine clays that are thermally more mature. The combination of reservoir grade lithologies associated with moderately mature petroleum source rocks enhances the natural gas potential of the upper Miocene sands in offshore Alabama.« less

Skin Barrier Function and Staphylococcus aureus Colonization in Vestibulum Nasi and Fauces in Healthy Infants and Infants with Eczema: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

PubMed

Berents, Teresa Løvold; Carlsen, Karin Cecilie Lødrup; Mowinckel, Petter; Skjerven, Håvard Ove; Kvenshagen, Bente; Rolfsjord, Leif Bjarte; Bradley, Maria; Lieden, Agne; Carlsen, Kai-Håkon; Gaustad, Peter; Gjersvik, Petter

2015-01-01

Atopic eczema (AE) is associated with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) colonization and skin barrier dysfunction, often measured by increased transepidermal water loss (TEWL). In the present study, the primary aim was to see whether S. aureus colonization in the vestibulum nasi and/or fauces was associated with increased TEWL in infants with healthy skin and infants with eczema. Secondarily, we aimed to investigate whether TEWL measurements on non-lesional skin on the lateral upper arm is equivalent to volar forearm in infants. In 167 of 240 infants, recruited from the general population, TEWL measurements on the lateral upper arm and volar forearm, using a DermaLab USB, fulfilled our environmental requirements. The mean of three TEWL measurements from each site was used for analysis. The infants were diagnosed with no eczema (n = 110), possible AE (n = 28) or AE (n = 29). DNA samples were analysed for mutations in the filaggrin gene (FLG). Bacterial cultures were reported positive with the identification of at least one culture with S. aureus from vestibulum nasi and/or fauces. S. aureus colonization, found in 89 infants (53%), was not associated with increased TEWL (i.e. TEWL in the upper quartile), neither on the lateral upper arm or volar forearm (p = 0.08 and p = 0.98, respectively), nor with AE (p = 0.10) or FLG mutation (p = 0.17). TEWL was significantly higher on both measuring sites in infants with AE compared to infants with possible AE and no eczema. FLG mutation was significantly associated with increased TEWL, with a 47% difference in TEWL. We conclude that S. aureus in vestibulum nasi and/or fauces was not associated with TEWL, whereas TEWL measurements on the lateral upper arm and volar forearm appear equally appropriate in infants.

Dietary inflammatory index and risk of upper aerodigestive tract cancer in Japanese adults

PubMed Central

Abe, Makiko; Shivappa, Nitin; Ito, Hidemi; Oze, Isao; Abe, Tetsuya; Shimizu, Yasuhiro; Hasegawa, Yasuhisa; Kiyohara, Chikako; Nomura, Masatoshi; Ogawa, Yoshihiro; Hebert, James R.; Matsuo, Keitaro

2018-01-01

Background The inflammatory potential of diet that has been shown to be associated with cancer risk. We examined the association between dietary inflammatory potential as measured by the dietary inflammatory index (DII®) and risk of upper aerodigestive tract cancers in a Japanese case-control study. Results A positive association was observed between increasing DII scores and overall upper aerodigestive tract cancers, and across anatomic subsites. For upper aerodigestive tract cancers, the ORQ4vsQ1 = 1.73 (95% CI: 1.37–2.20); head and neck cancer, the ORQ4vsQ1 was 1.92 (95% CI: 1.42–2.59); and for esophageal cancer, the ORQ4vsQ1 was1.71 (95% CI: 1.54–1.90). Risks for hypopharyngeal and nasopharyngeal cancers were greatly elevated: (ORQ4vsQ1 = 4.05 (95% CI: 1.24–13.25) for hypopharyngeal cancer and ORQ4vsQ1 = 4.99 (95% CI: 1.14–21.79) for nasopharyngeal cancer. Conclusion A more pro-inflammatory diet was associated with an elevated risk of upper aerodigestive tract cancers after accounting for important confounders. All anatomic subsites, except larynx, showed the consistently elevated risk with increasing DII score. Those subsites with known etiological associations with persistent infection showed the largest elevation in risk. These results warrant further evaluation in future studies. Materials and Methods This is a case-control study of 1,028 cases and 3,081 age- and sex-matched non-cancer controls recruited at Aichi Cancer Center. DII scores were computed based on estimates of macro- and micro-nutrients from a self-administered food frequency questionnaire. Scores were further categorized into quartiles (based on the distribution in controls). Conditional logistic regression models were fit to estimate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) adjusted for smoking, ethanol consumption, alcohol flushing, number of teeth, and occupation group. PMID:29844870

Infant anthropometry, early life infection, and subsequent risk of type 1 diabetes mellitus: a prospective birth cohort study.

PubMed

Ponsonby, Anne-Louise; Pezic, Angela; Cochrane, Jennifer; Cameron, Fergus J; Pascoe, Mark; Kemp, Andrew; Dwyer, Terence

2011-06-01

Higher birthweight is associated with increased type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) risk, but the contribution of higher adiposity or lean mass is unclear. In this Tasmanian infant cohort, early upper respiratory infection has been associated with higher asthma risk. Eligible infants represented one-fifth of live births in Tasmania, 1988-1995. Hospital interview data (day 6) were obtained on 96.3% (10 628/11 040), home (5 wk) visit data (38 d) on 92.9% (9876/10 628) of those, then a phone (12 wk) interview (87 d). Tricep and subscapular skinfold measures and upper arm circumference were recorded at the first two interviews. T1DM cases (n = 26) arising from the age of 16 or under in Tasmania from 1988 to 2006 were ascertained. Higher birthweight [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.82 (95% CI 1.31-6.09)], lean mid-upper arm circumference [AOR 1.76 (95% CI 1.16-2.66)], not skinfold measures, were associated with T1DM risk. Children with an early upper respiratory tract infection by 5-wk visit [AOR 2.74 (95% CI 1.19-6.32)] or ear infection by 12-wk interview [AOR 3.44 (95% CI 1.00-11.79)] were also at higher risk. Putative markers of altered microbial exposure such as resident density were not associated with T1DM risk but the effect of increasing birth order on T1DM risk differed for older (AOR 0.41, p = 0.02) than young mother (AOR 2.45, p = 0.01); difference in effect, p = 0.001. In this cohort, early upper respiratory tract infection was associated with T1DM risk, as had been previously found for asthma, consistent with immunoinflammatory upregulation. Using the detailed anthropometric measures available, the link between higher birthweight and T1DM did not appear to reflect increased adiposity. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Baccalaureate Dental Hygiene Education: Creating a Reality.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wayman, Dona E.

1985-01-01

Inherent in the meaning of baccalaureate dental hygiene education is the offering of upper-division courses in the theory and practice of dental hygiene itself. Restructuring the associate programs as strictly two-year, lower-division programs would require standardization of baccalaureate programs as strictly upper-division curricula. (MLW)

Associations of office workers' objectively assessed occupational sitting, standing and stepping time with musculoskeletal symptoms.

PubMed

Coenen, Pieter; Healy, Genevieve N; Winkler, Elisabeth A H; Dunstan, David W; Owen, Neville; Moodie, Marj; LaMontagne, Anthony D; Eakin, Elizabeth A; O'Sullivan, Peter B; Straker, Leon M

2018-04-22

We examined the association of musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS) with workplace sitting, standing and stepping time, as well as sitting and standing time accumulation (i.e. usual bout duration of these activities), measured objectively with the activPAL3 monitor. Using baseline data from the Stand Up Victoria trial (216 office workers, 14 workplaces), cross-sectional associations of occupational activities with self-reported MSS (low-back, upper and lower extremity symptoms in the last three months) were examined using probit regression, correcting for clustering and adjusting for confounders. Sitting bout duration was significantly (p < 0.05) associated, non-linearly, with MSS, such that those in the middle tertile displayed the highest prevalence of upper extremity symptoms. Other associations were non-significant but sometimes involved large differences in symptom prevalence (e.g. 38%) by activity. Though causation is unclear, these non-linear associations suggest that sitting and its alternatives (i.e. standing and stepping) interact with MSS and this should be considered when designing safe work systems. Practitioner summary: We studied associations of objectively assessed occupational activities with musculoskeletal symptoms in office workers. Workers who accumulated longer sitting bouts reported fewer upper extremity symptoms. Total activity duration was not significantly associated with musculoskeletal symptoms. We underline the importance of considering total volumes and patterns of activity time in musculoskeletal research.

Implicit treatment of diffusion terms in lower-upper algorithms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shih, T. I.-P.; Steinthorsson, E.; Chyu, W. J.

1993-01-01

A method is presented which allows diffusion terms to be treated implicitly in the lower-upper (LU) algorithm (which is a commonly used method for solving 'compressible' Euler and Navier-Stokes equations) so that the algorithm's good stability properties will not be impaired. The new method generalizes the concept of LU factorization from that associated with the sign of eigenvalues to that associated with backward- and forward-difference operators without regard to eigenvalues. The method is verified in a turbulent boundary layer study.

Dietary factors and gastric cancer risk. A case-control study in Spain.

PubMed

Ramón, J M; Serra, L; Cerdó, C; Oromí, J

1993-03-01

Evidence supports that gastric cancer has an environmental etiology, of which diet appears to be the most important component. The authors examined the effect of diet on the risk of gastric cancer. A case-control study of dietary factors and gastric cancer was conducted between September 1986 and March 1989 in the Barcelona metropolitan area, Spain. One hundred seventeen cases with histologically confirmed diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma were matched by age, gender, and whether they possessed a telephone to 234 community controls. One hundred eighty-eight (80.3%) controls were selected by random-digit telephone dialing and 46 (19.7%) by neighborhood of residence. Information about frequency and amount of consumption of 89 food items in one year was gathered by using a questionnaire, and cases and controls were interviewed in their homes by trained interviewers. Unconditional logistic regression was used for the analysis. Gastric cancer risk rose with increasing intake of smoked and pickled foods (OR 3.67 for upper tertile) and salt (OR 2.11 for upper quartile). Intake of citrus fruits (OR 0.47 for upper tertile) and raw-green vegetables (OR 0.56 for upper quartile) appeared to be protective. Gastric cancer risk was not associated with intake of cereals, rice, total vegetables, and fruits as a whole. These data suggest that high intake of salt and smoked and pickled food may be associated with a high risk of gastric cancer, and this association could be due to intragastric formation of nitrosamines. The negative association with citric and green vegetables consumption to be associated with the inhibition of nitrosation process.

Diagnosis of Upper Quadrant Lymphedema Secondary to Cancer: Clinical Practice Guideline From the Oncology Section of the American Physical Therapy Association

PubMed Central

Levenhagen, Kimberly; Davies, Claire; Perdomo, Marisa; Ryans, Kathryn

2017-01-01

Abstract The Oncology Section of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) developed a clinical practice guideline to aid the clinician in diagnosing secondary upper quadrant cancer-related lymphedema. Following a systematic review of published studies and a structured appraisal process, recommendations were written to guide the physical therapist and other health care clinicians in the diagnostic process. Overall clinical practice recommendations were formulated based on the evidence for each diagnostic method and were assigned a grade based on the strength of the evidence for different patient presentations and clinical utility. In an effort to maximize clinical applicability, recommendations were based on the characteristics as to the location and stage of a patient's upper quadrant lymphedema. PMID:28838217

A forest health inventory assessment of red fir (Abies magnifica) in upper montane California

Treesearch

Leif Mortenson; Andrew N. Gray; David C. Shaw

2015-01-01

We investigated the forest health of red fir (Abies magnifica) and how it compared with commonly-associated species Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and white fir (Abies concolor) in the upper montane forests of California. We evaluated tree mortality rates...

Genomic Biomarkers for the Prediction of Stage and Prognosis of Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma.

PubMed

Bagrodia, Aditya; Cha, Eugene K; Sfakianos, John P; Zabor, Emily C; Bochner, Bernard H; Al-Ahmadie, Hikmat A; Solit, David B; Coleman, Jonathan A; Iyer, Gopa; Scott, Sasinya N; Shah, Ronak; Ostrovnaya, Irina; Lee, Byron; Desai, Neil B; Ren, Qinghu; Rosenberg, Jonathan E; Dalbagni, Guido; Bajorin, Dean F; Reuter, Victor E; Berger, Michael F

2016-06-01

Genomic characterization of radical nephroureterectomy specimens in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma may allow for thoughtful integration of systemic and targeted therapies. We sought to determine whether genomic alterations in upper tract urothelial carcinoma are associated with adverse pathological and clinical outcomes. Next generation exon capture sequencing of 300 cancer associated genes was performed in 83 patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma. Genomic alterations were assessed individually and also grouped into core signal transduction pathways or canonical cell functions for association with clinicopathological outcomes. Binary outcomes, including grade (high vs low), T stage (pTa/T1/T2 vs pT3/T4) and organ confined status (pT2 or less and N0/Nx vs greater than pT2 or N+) were assessed with the Kruskal-Wallis and Fisher exact tests as appropriate. Associations between alterations and survival were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression. Of the 24 most commonly altered genes in 9 pathways TP53/MDM2 alterations and FGFR3 mutations were the only 2 alterations uniformly associated with high grade, advanced stage, nonorgan confined disease, and recurrence-free and cancer specific survival. TP53/MDM2 alterations were associated with adverse clinicopathological outcomes whereas FGFR3 mutations were associated with favorable outcomes. We created a risk score using TP53/MDM2 and FGFR3 status that was able to discriminate between adverse pathological and clinical outcomes, including in the subset of patients with high grade disease. The study is limited by small numbers and lack of validation. Our data indicate that specific genomic alterations in radical nephroureterectomy specimens correlate with tumor grade, stage and cancer specific survival outcomes. Copyright © 2016 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Conodont biostratigraphy from the upper San Juan Formation (Middle Ordovician) at Niquivil, Argentine Precordillera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mango, M. J.; Albanesi, G. L.

2018-07-01

The present work deals with the conodont biostratigraphy from the upper San Juan Formation in the section of Niquivil, Central Precodillera of San Juan, Argentina. We study the upper 129.45 m of the San Juan Formation, starting from the upper strata of the second reef horizon up to the top of the formation. Digested limestone samples yielded 20 conodont species. The presence of Tripodus laevis Bradshaw not associated to Baltoniodus navis (Lindström) allows the recognition of the Baltoniodus triangularis-Tripodus laevis Zone, which is interpreted as correlative with the "Parapanderodus" nogamii/Parapanderodus gracilis/Ansella jemtlandica Association of Lehnert (1993, 1995; Lehnert and Keller, 1993), conversely to previous interpretations that suggested the latter as correlative to the Baltoniodus navis Zone. The zonal identification is supported by the associated conodonts Protopanderodus rectus (Lindström), Juanognathus jaanussoni Serpagli, Juanognathus n. sp., Protopanderodus gradatus (Serpagli), Rossodus barnesi Albanesi, Paltodus subaequalis Pander, Drepanodus arcuatus (Pander), Cornuodus longibasis (Lindström), Protopanderodus elongatus Serpagli, Oistodus lanceolatus Pander, Periodon flabellum (Lindström), Semiacontiodus potrerillensis Albanesi, Triangulodus brevibasis (Sergeeva), Paroistodus originalis (Sergeeva), Drepanoistodus forceps (Lindström), Oistodus multicorrugatus Harris, Parapanderodus paracornuformis (Ethington and Clark), Anodontus longus Stouge and Bagnoli, and Pteracontiodus cryptodens Mound. The petrographic microscope analysis of carbonate rocks thin sections refer to proximal middle ramp deposits.

Self-rated health in different social classes of Slovenian adult population: nationwide cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Farkas, Jerneja; Pahor, Majda; Zaletel-Kragelj, Lijana

2011-02-01

Self-rated health can be influenced by several characteristics of the social environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between self-rated health and self-assessed social class in Slovenian adult population. The study was based on the Countrywide Integrated Non-communicable Diseases Intervention Health Monitor database. During 2004, 8,741/15,297 (57.1%) participants aged 25-64 years returned posted self-administered questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to determine unadjusted and adjusted estimates of association between poor self-rated health and self-assessed social class. Poor self-rated health was reported by 9.6% of participants with a decrease from lower to upper-middle/upper self-assessed social class (35.9 vs. 3.7%). Logistic regression showed significant association between self-rated health and all self-assessed social classes. In an adjusted model, poor self-rated health remained associated with self-assessed social class (odds ratio for lower vs. upper-middle/upper self-assessed social class 4.23, 95% confidence interval 2.46-7.25; P < 0.001). Our study confirmed differences in the prevalence of poor self-rated health across self-assessed social classes. Participants from lower self-assessed social class reported poor self-rated health most often and should comprise the focus of multisectoral interventions.

Changing palaeoenvironments and tetrapod populations in the Daptocephalus Assemblage Zone (Karoo Basin, South Africa) indicate early onset of the Permo-Triassic mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viglietti, Pia A.; Smith, Roger M. H.; Rubidge, Bruce S.

2018-02-01

Important palaeoenvironmental differences are identified during deposition of the latest Permian Daptocephalus Assemblage Zone (DaAZ) of the South African Beaufort Group (Karoo Supergoup), which is also divided into a Lower and Upper subzone. A lacustrine floodplain facies association showing evidence for higher water tables and subaqueous conditions on the floodplains is present in Lower DaAZ. The change to well-drained floodplain facies association in the Upper DaAZ is coincident with a faunal turnover as evidenced by the last appearance of the dicynodont Dicynodon lacerticeps, the therocephalian Theriognathus microps, the cynodont Procynosuchus delaharpeae, and first appearance of the dicynodont Lystrosaurus maccaigi within the Ripplemead member. Considering the well documented 3-phased extinction of Karoo tetrapods during the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction (PTME), the facies transition between the Lower and Upper DaAZ represents earlier than previously documented palaeoenvironmental changes associated with the onset of this major global biotic crisis.

Effects of air temperature and discharge on Upper Mississippi River summer water temperatures

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gray, Brian R.; Robertson, Dale M.; Rogala, James T.

2018-01-01

Recent interest in the potential effects of climate change has prompted studies of air temperature and precipitation associations with water temperatures in rivers and streams. We examined associations between summer surface water temperatures and both air temperature and discharge for 5 reaches of the Upper Mississippi River during 1994–2011. Water–air temperature associations at a given reach approximated 1:1 when estimated under an assumption of reach independence but declined to approximately 1:2 when water temperatures were permitted to covary among reaches and were also adjusted for upstream air temperatures. Estimated water temperature–discharge associations were weak. An apparently novel feature of this study is that of addressing changes in associations between water and air temperatures when both are correlated among reaches.

Relations among questionnaire and laboratory measures of rhinovirus infection.

PubMed

Barrett, B; Brown, R; Voland, R; Maberry, R; Turner, R

2006-08-01

Due to high incidence and quality-of-life impact, upper respiratory infection substantially impacts on population health. To test or compare treatment effectiveness, a well-designed and validated illness-specific quality-of-life instrument is needed. Data reported in the current study were obtained from a trial testing echinacea for induced rhinovirus infection. Laboratory-assessed biomarkers included interleukin (IL)-8, nasal neutrophil count (polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN)), mucus weight, viral titre and seroconversion. The questionnaires used included the general health short form (SF)-8 (24-h recall version), the eight-item Jackson cold scale, and the 44-item Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey (WURSS). In total, 399 participants were inoculated with rhinovirus and monitored over 2,088 person-days. Statistically significant associations were found among nearly all variables. Between-questionnaire correlations were: WURSS-Jackson = 0.81; WURSS-SF-8 = 0.62; and Jackson-SF-8 = 0.60. Correlations with laboratory values were as follows: WURSS-mucus weight = 0.53; Jackson-mucus weight = 0.55; WURSS-viral titre = 0.37; Jackson-viral titre = 0.46; WURSS-IL-8 = 0.31; Jackson-IL-8 = 0.36; WURSS-PMN = 0.31; and Jackson-PMN = 0.28. Neither WURSS nor Jackson yielded satisfactory cut-off scores for diagnosis of infection. Symptomatic and biological outcomes of upper respiratory infection are highly variable, with only modest associations. While Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey and Jackson questionnaires both correlate with biomarkers, neither is a good predictor of induced infection. The inclusion of functional and quality-of-life items in the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey does not significantly decrease the strength of association with laboratory-assessed biomarkers.

Reconfiguration of the upper extremity relative to the pushrim affects load distribution during wheelchair propulsion.

PubMed

Munaretto, Joseph M; McNitt-Gray, Jill L; Flashner, Henryk; Requejo, Philip S

2013-08-01

Repetitive loading during manual wheelchair propulsion (WCP) is associated with overuse injury to the upper extremity (UE). The aim of this study was to determine how RF redirection and load distribution are affected by changes upper extremity kinematic modifications associated with modifications in seat positions during a WCP task. The aim of this study was to determine how RF redirection and load distribution are affected by upper extremity kinematic changes associated with seat position adjustment during a WCP task. Dynamic simulations using an experiment-based multi-link inverse dynamics model were used to generate solutions for redistributing UE mechanical load in different seating positions without decrements in WCP task performance. Experimental RF and kinematic data were collected for one subject propelling at a self-selected speed and used as input into the model. Shoulder/axle distance, wrist angular position, and RF direction were systematically modified to simulate how the mechanical demand imposed on the upper extremity (elbow and shoulder net joint moments (NJMs) and net joint forces) may vary. Load distribution depended on UE orientation relative to the wheel. At peak force, lower shoulder/axle distances and more anterior wrist positions on the pushrim allowed for more extended elbow positions and reduced total NJM load. Simulation results incorporating subject-specific data may provide mechanically based information to guide clinical interventions that aim to maintain WCP performance and redistribute load by modifying RF direction, seat configuration and hand/rim interaction. Copyright © 2012 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Upper limb motor function in young adults with spina bifida and hydrocephalus

PubMed Central

Salman, M. S.; Jewell, D.; Hetherington, R.; Spiegler, B. J.; MacGregor, D. L.; Drake, J. M.; Humphreys, R. P.; Gentili, F.

2011-01-01

Objective The objective of the study was to measure upper limb motor function in young adults with spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM) and typically developing age peers. Method Participants were 26 young adults with SBM, with a Verbal or Performance IQ score of at least 70 on the Wechsler scales, and 27 age- and gender-matched controls. Four upper limb motor function tasks were performed under four different visual and cognitive challenge conditions. Motor independence was assessed by questionnaire. Results Fewer SBM than control participants obtained perfect posture and rebound scores. The SBM group performed less accurately and was more disrupted by cognitive challenge than controls on limb dysmetria tasks. The SBM group was slower than controls on the diadochokinesis task. Adaptive motor independence was related to one upper limb motor task, arm posture, and upper rather than lower spinal lesions were associated with less motor independence. Conclusions Young adults with SBM have significant limitations in upper limb function and are more disrupted by some challenges while performing upper limb motor tasks. Within the group of young adults with SBM, upper spinal lesions compromise motor independence more than lower spinal lesions. PMID:19672605

Development of diapiric structures in the upper mantle due to phase transitions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, M.; Yuen, D. A.; Zhao, W.; Honda, S.

1991-01-01

Solid-state phase transition in time-dependent mantle convection can induce diapiric flows in the upper mantle. When a deep mantle plume rises toward phase boundaries in the upper mantle, the changes in the local thermal buoyancy, local heat capacity, and latent heat associated with the phase change at a depth of 670 kilometers tend to pinch off the plume head from the feeding stem and form a diapir. This mechanism may explain episodic hot spot volcanism. The nature of the multiple phase boundaries at the boundary between the upper and lower mantle may control the fate of deep mantle plumes, allowing hot plumes to go through and retarding the tepid ones.

Evaluation of the pair-culture effect in Ophyryotrocha puerilis (Polychaeta: Dorvilleidae). II. Conditions for the moult of the upper jaw

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kegel, B.; Pfannenstiel, H.-D.

1983-06-01

The conditions for moult of the upper jaw of Ophryotrocha puerilis were determined in isolated individuals and in groups of various sizes. The frequency of formation of the complicated upper jaw in both isolated individuals and in groups varies to a considerable extent. Although formation of the upper jaw and sex reversal normally are associated processes, the relationship of these two processes is not very well understood. Histological investigations at the light microscopic level demonstrate that the dental apparatus is an elaboration of the ectodermal stomodaeum which is considered to be a highly specialized part of the cuticle in the pharyngeal region of the gut.

The oral health of upper income Americans.

PubMed

Bailit, Howard; Lim, Sungwoo; Ismail, Amid

2016-06-01

Limited information is available on the oral health status of upper income Americans (>400 percent of the FPL). They constitute 33 percent of the population and account for 53 percent of dental expenditures. Using 1999-2004 NHANES data, we examined differences in the mean number and percentage of decayed and filled permanent surfaces and missing teeth among age and family income groups. For upper income Americans, across age groups, the mean number of untreated decayed surfaces and missing teeth ranged from 0.2 to 0.5 and 2.6 to 3.3, respectively. The mean number of restored surfaces was low in children but extensive in adults. Income disparities increased with increasing age. Overall, upper income Americans have good oral health. Relatively few have untreated decayed surfaces or missing teeth. The reasons for the large number of restored surfaces in upper income adults require further research. Most upper income Americans are in good oral health, especially the 12-18 year cohort. As this group ages, the oral health of upper income adults is expected to improve. © 2015 American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

Repeated measures of recent headache, neck and upper back pain in Australian adolescents.

PubMed

Grimmer, K; Nyland, L; Milanese, S

2006-07-01

The epidemiological and clinical literature identifies strong associations between adult headache, cervical and thoracic spine dysfunction and spinal posture. This paper reports on the prevalence and incidence of headache, neck and upper back pain which occurred in the previous week, in urban Australians aged 13-17 years. Commencing in 1999, we followed a cohort of South Australian students through 5 years of secondary schooling. Of our commencing cohort of students, 132 (30%) provided data on bodily pain every year. For both girls and boys, there was a significantly decreasing prevalence of headache over the study period, while neck pain and upper back pain increased. There was a significantly increasing trend over time for boys with upper back pain. Twenty percent of girls and boys consistently reported headache, neck pain or upper back pain over 5 years. The progression of early adolescent headaches to mid-adolescent neck and upper back pain potentially reflects the adolescents' biomechanical responses to intrinsic and extrinsic imposts. This requires further investigation to understand the causes of adolescent headache, neck and upper thoracic pain.

[Laparoscopic Proximal Gastrectomy as a Surgical Treatment for Upper Third Early Gastric Cancer].

PubMed

Park, Do Joong; Park, Young Suk; Ahn, Sang Hoon; Kim, Hyung Ho

2017-09-25

Recently, the incidence of upper third gastric cancer has increased, and with it the number of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) procedures performed has been increasing. However, if ESD is not indicated or non-curable, surgical treatment may be necessary. In the case of lower third gastric cancer, it is possible to preserve the upper part of the stomach; however, in the case of upper third gastric cancer, total gastrectomy is still the standard treatment option, regardless of the stage. This is due to the complications associated with upper third gastric cancer, such as gastroesophageal reflux after proximal gastrectomy rather than oncologic problems. Recently, the introduction of the double tract reconstruction method after proximal gastrectomy has become one of the surgical treatment methods for upper third early gastric cancer. However, since there has not been a prospective comparative study evaluating its efficacy, the ongoing multicenter prospective randomized controlled trial (KLASS-05) comparing laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy with double tract reconstruction and laparoscopic total gastrectomy is expected to be important for determining the future of treatment of upper third early gastric cancer.

Upper lip changes and gingival exposure on smiling: vertical dimension analysis.

PubMed

Miron, Hagai; Calderon, Shlomo; Allon, Dror

2012-01-01

Our objectives were to evaluate and quantify upper lip soft-tissue changes in the vertical dimensions both at rest and at maximum smile, and to examine the correlation between upper labial vestibular attachment height and maxillary gingival exposure on smiling. Seventy-two volunteers (36 men, 36 women) aged 20 to 40 (mean, 30.49 years) were recruited for this study. For each subject, 9 measurements of upper lip position and maxillary incisor crown height at rest and in maximum smile were recorded. A statistically significant sexual dimorphism was apparent in most of the measured variables. Relaxed external upper lip length was 3.1 mm shorter in the women than in the men. The mean maxillary central incisor display at rest was 1.78 mm greater in the women than in the men. A high smile line was 2.5 times more prevalent in the women. The upper lip was shortened by 30% in subjects with a high smile line compared with 23% in subjects with a low smile line. The following findings were observed in subjects with a high smile pattern: (1) short upper lip length, (2) low smiling/resting upper lip length ratio, (3) inferior attachment of the upper labial vestibule, and (4) prominent upper lip vermilion. Copyright © 2012 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Are pushing and pulling work-related risk factors for upper extremity symptoms? A systematic review of observational studies.

PubMed

Hoozemans, M J M; Knelange, E B; Frings-Dresen, M H W; Veeger, H E J; Kuijer, P P F M

2014-11-01

Systematically review observational studies concerning the question whether workers that perform pushing/pulling activities have an increased risk for upper extremity symptoms as compared to workers that perform no pushing/pulling activities. A search in MEDLINE via PubMed and EMBASE was performed with work-related search terms combined with push/pushing/pull/pulling. Studies had to examine exposure to pushing/pulling in relation to upper extremity symptoms. Two authors performed the literature selection and assessment of the risk of bias in the studies independently. A best evidence synthesis was used to draw conclusions in terms of strong, moderate or conflicting/insufficient evidence. The search resulted in 4764 studies. Seven studies were included, with three of them of low risk of bias, in total including 8279 participants. A positive significant relationship with upper extremity symptoms was observed in all four prospective cohort studies with effect sizes varying between 1.5 and 4.9. Two out of the three remaining studies also reported a positive association with upper extremity symptoms. In addition, significant positive associations with neck/shoulder symptoms were found in two prospective cohort studies with effect sizes of 1.5 and 1.6, and with shoulder symptoms in one of two cross-sectional studies with an effect size of 2.1. There is strong evidence that pushing/pulling is related to upper extremity symptoms, specifically for shoulder symptoms. There is insufficient or conflicting evidence that pushing/pulling is related to (combinations of) upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist or hand symptoms. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Black breast cancer survivors experience greater upper extremity disability.

PubMed

Dean, Lorraine T; DeMichele, Angela; LeBlanc, Mously; Stephens-Shields, Alisa; Li, Susan Q; Colameco, Chris; Coursey, Morgan; Mao, Jun J

2015-11-01

Over one-third of breast cancer survivors experience upper extremity disability. Black women present with factors associated with greater upper extremity disability, including: increased body mass index (BMI), more advanced disease stage at diagnosis, and varying treatment type compared with Whites. No prior research has evaluated the relationship between race and upper extremity disability using validated tools and controlling for these factors. Data were drawn from a survey study among 610 women with stage I-III hormone receptor positive breast cancer. The disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand (QuickDASH) is an 11-item self-administered questionnaire that has been validated for breast cancer survivors to assess global upper extremity function over the past 7 days. Linear regression and mediation analysis estimated the relationships between race, BMI and QuickDASH score, adjusting for demographics and treatment types. Black women (n = 98) had 7.3 points higher average QuickDASH scores than White (n = 512) women (p < 0.001). After adjusting for BMI, age, education, cancer treatment, months since diagnosis, and aromatase inhibitor status, Black women had an average 4-point (95 % confidence interval 0.18-8.01) higher QuickDASH score (p = 0.04) than White women. Mediation analysis suggested that BMI attenuated the association between race and disability by 40 %. Even several years post-treatment, Black breast cancer survivors had greater upper extremity disability, which was partially mediated by higher BMIs. Close monitoring of high BMI Black women may be an important step in reducing disparities in cancer survivorship. More research is needed on the relationship between race, BMI, and upper extremity disability.

Risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors with or without concurrent nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory use: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Anglin, Rebecca; Yuan, Yuhong; Moayyedi, Paul; Tse, Frances; Armstrong, David; Leontiadis, Grigorios I

2014-06-01

There is emerging concern that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may be associated with an increased risk of upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, and that this risk may be further increased by concurrent use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) medications. Previous reviews of a relatively small number of studies have reported a substantial risk of upper GI bleeding with SSRIs; however, more recent studies have produced variable results. The objective of this study was to obtain a more precise estimate of the risk of upper GI bleeding with SSRIs, with or without concurrent NSAID use. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, the Cochrane central register of controlled trials (through April 2013), and US and European conference proceedings were searched. Controlled trials, cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies that reported the incidence of upper GI bleeding in adults on SSRIs with or without concurrent NSAID use, compared with placebo or no treatment were included. Data were extracted independently by two authors. Dichotomous data were pooled to obtain odds ratio (OR) of the risk of upper GI bleeding with SSRIs +/- NSAID, with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The main outcome and measure of the study was the risk of upper GI bleeding with SSRIs compared with placebo or no treatment. Fifteen case-control studies (including 393,268 participants) and four cohort studies were included in the analysis. There was an increased risk of upper GI bleeding with SSRI medications in the case-control studies (OR=1.66, 95% CI=1.44,1.92) and cohort studies (OR=1.68, 95% CI=1.13,2.50). The number needed to harm for upper GI bleeding with SSRI treatment in a low-risk population was 3,177, and in a high-risk population it was 881. The risk of upper GI bleeding was further increased with the use of both SSRI and NSAID medications (OR=4.25, 95% CI=2.82,6.42). SSRI medications are associated with a modest increase in the risk of upper GI bleeding, which is lower than has previously been estimated. This risk is significantly elevated when SSRI medications are used in combination with NSAIDs, and physicians prescribing these medications together should exercise caution and discuss this risk with patients.

Discriminating Sediment Supply versus Accommodation Controls on Late Cretaceous Foreland Basin Stratigraphic Architecture in the Book Cliffs, Utah using Detrital Zircon Double Dating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartschi, N.; Saylor, J. E.

2016-12-01

Middle to late Campanian strata of the Book Cliffs, Utah record the Late Cretaceous deposition of three clastic wedges in the North American Cordilleran foreland basin east of the Sevier thrust-belt. Variations in wedge geometries provide an opportunity to evaluate the effects of sediment supply versus accommodation on foreland basin stratal architecture. There is a significant increase in eastward progradation rate from the Lower to the Upper Castlegate Sandstone. However, the progradation rate decreases in the overlying Bluecastle and Price River formations, as well as the laterally equivalent Farrer and Tuscher formations. Rapid progradation during Upper Castlegate deposition may be caused by increased sediment supply from either rapid exhumation of the Sevier thrust-belt or introduction of a new sediment source. Alternatively, reduced accommodation within the proximal foreland basin from uplifts associated with Laramide deformation, or a transition from flexural to dynamic subsidence, could produce the observed rapid wedge progradation. Changes in sediment provenance and source-area exhumation rate can be identified using a combination of detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and (U-Th)/He thermochronology. Quantitative comparisons between collected samples and published provenance data indicates an upsection increase in a new sediment source, revealing a significant overall shift in provenance between wedge boundaries. This change in provenance is coupled by an upsection decrease in lag time between the Lower and Upper Castlegate, consistent with an increase in exhumation rate. Conversely, there is no change in lag time between the Upper Castlegate and overlying Price River Formation, suggesting a relatively constant exhumation rate. Near-zero lag times during the Upper Castlegate is consistent with rapid exhumation associated with increased thrusting of the Sevier thrust-belt. Therefore, progradation of the Upper Castlegate can be attributed to an increase in sediment supply due to both rapid exhumation of the Sevier thrust-belt and introduction of a new sediment source. However, the data do not rule out the potential influence of reduced accommodation associated with early Laramide deformation during Upper Castlegate deposition.

Perceptions of Peers as Socialization Agents and Adjustment in Upper Secondary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Studsrod, Ingunn; Bru, Edvin

2011-01-01

The purpose of present study was to explore the perceptions of peers as socialization agents in school adjustment among upper secondary school students. The associations were studied in a sample of 564 Norwegian students. Results showed that perceptions of friends and classmates as socialization agents accounted for unique variances in various…

Psychosocial Risk Factors for Upper Respiratory Infections: Assessment of Upper Respiratory Illness during Basic Training

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-05-23

association was low enough to ensure that the URI composite was not merely an index of somatic stress reactions or hypochondriasis . The eight-item...report somatic symptoms in response to stress. Adjusted URI Severity also is consistent with the clinical practice of ruling out other possible types

Student Perceptions of an Upper-Level, Undergraduate Human Anatomy Laboratory Course without Cadavers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Shirley J.

2012-01-01

Several programs in health professional education require or are considering requiring upper-level human anatomy as prerequisite for their applicants. Undergraduate students are confronted with few institutions offering such a course, in part because of the expense and logistical issues associated with a cadaver-based human anatomy course. This…

Short-Term Upper Limb Immobilization Affects Action-Word Understanding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bidet-Ildei, Christel; Meugnot, Aurore; Beauprez, Sophie-Anne; Gimenes, Manuel; Toussaint, Lucette

2017-01-01

The present study aimed to investigate whether well-established associations between action and language can be altered by short-term upper limb immobilization. The dominant arm of right-handed participants was immobilized for 24 hours with a rigid splint fixed on the hand and an immobilization vest restraining the shoulder, arm, and forearm. The…

Student perceptions of an upper-level, undergraduate human anatomy laboratory course without cadavers.

PubMed

Wright, Shirley J

2012-01-01

Several programs in health professional education require or are considering requiring upper-level human anatomy as prerequisite for their applicants. Undergraduate students are confronted with few institutions offering such a course, in part because of the expense and logistical issues associated with a cadaver-based human anatomy course. This study describes the development of and student reactions to an upper-level human anatomy laboratory course for undergraduate students that used a regional approach and contemporary, alternative teaching methods to a cadaver-based course. The alternative pedagogy to deliver the curriculum included use of commercially available, three-dimensional anatomical virtual dissection software, anatomical models coupled with a learning management system to offer Web-based learning, and a new laboratory manual with collaborative exercises designed to develop the student's anatomical skills and collaborative team skills. A Likert-scale survey with open-ended questions was used to ascertain student perceptions of the course and its various aspects. Students perceived that the noncadaver-based, upper-level human anatomy course with an engaging, regional approach is highly valuable in their learning of anatomy. anatomy. Copyright © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.

Prolonged partial upper airway obstruction during sleep – an underdiagnosed phenotype of sleep-disordered breathing

PubMed Central

Anttalainen, Ulla; Tenhunen, Mirja; Rimpilä, Ville; Polo, Olli; Rauhala, Esa; Himanen, Sari-Leena; Saaresranta, Tarja

2016-01-01

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a well-recognized disorder conventionally diagnosed with an elevated apnea–hypopnea index. Prolonged partial upper airway obstruction is a common phenotype of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), which however is still largely underreported. The major reasons for this are that cyclic breathing pattern coupled with arousals and arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation are easy to detect and considered more important than prolonged episodes of increased respiratory effort with increased levels of carbon dioxide in the absence of cycling breathing pattern and repetitive arousals. There is also a growing body of evidence that prolonged partial obstruction is a clinically significant form of SDB, which is associated with symptoms and co-morbidities which may partially differ from those associated with OSAS. Partial upper airway obstruction is most prevalent in women, and it is treatable with the nasal continuous positive pressure device with good adherence to therapy. This review describes the characteristics of prolonged partial upper airway obstruction during sleep in terms of diagnostics, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and comorbidity to improve recognition of this phenotype and its timely and appropriate treatment. PMID:27608271

Depositional architecture and sequence stratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic Hanifa Formation, central Saudi Arabia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Sorogy, Abdelbaset; Al-Kahtany, Khaled; Almadani, Sattam; Tawfik, Mohamed

2018-03-01

To document the depositional architecture and sequence stratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic Hanifa Formation in central Saudi Arabia, three composite sections were examined, measured and thin section analysed at Al-Abakkayn, Sadous and Maashabah mountains. Fourteen microfacies types were identified, from wackestones to boundstones and which permits the recognition of five lithofacies associations in a carbonate platform. Lithofacies associations range from low energy, sponges, foraminifers and bioclastic burrowed offshoal deposits to moderate lithoclstic, peloidal and bioclastic foreshoal deposits in the lower part of the Hanifa while the upper part is dominated by corals, ooidal and peloidal high energy shoal deposits to moderate to low energy peloidal, stromatoporoids and other bioclastics back shoal deposits. The studied Hanifa Formation exhibits an obvious cyclicity, distinguishing from vertical variations in lithofacies types. These microfacies types are arranged in two third order sequences, the first sequence is equivalent to the lower part of the Hanifa Formation (Hawtah member) while the second one is equivalent to the upper part (Ulayyah member). Within these two sequences, there are three to six fourth-order high frequency sequences respectively in the studied sections.

Prevalence and associations of symptoms of upper extremities, repetitive strain injuries (RSI) and 'RSI-like condition'. A cross sectional study of bank workers in Northeast Brazil

PubMed Central

Lacerda, Eliana M; Nácul, Luis C; da S Augusto, Lia G; Olinto, Maria Teresa A; Rocha, Dyhanne C; Wanderley, Danielle C

2005-01-01

Background The repetitive strain injury syndrome (RSI) is a worldwide occupational health problem affecting all types of economic activities. We investigated the prevalence and some risk factors for RSI and related conditions, namely 'symptoms of upper limbs' and 'RSI-like condition'. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study with 395 bank workers in Recife, Northeast Brazil. Symptoms of upper limbs and 'RSI-like condition' were assessed by a simple questionnaire, which was used to screen probable cases of RSI. The diagnosis of RSI was confirmed by clinical examination. The associations of potential risk factors and the outcomes were assessed by multiple logistic regression analysis. Results We found prevalence rates of 56% for symptoms of the upper limbs and 30% for 'RSI-like condition'. The estimated prevalence of clinically confirmed cases of RSI was 22%. Female sex and occupation (as cashier or clerk) increased the risk of all conditions, but the associations were stronger for cases of RSI than for less specific diagnoses of 'RSI-like condition' and symptoms of upper limbs. Age was inversely related to the risk of symptoms of upper limbs but not to 'RSI-like' or RSI. Conclusion The variation in the magnitude of risk according to the outcome assessed suggests that previous studies using different definitions may not be immediately comparable. We propose the use of a simple instrument to screen cases of RSI in population based studies, which still needs to be validated in other populations. The high prevalence of RSI and related conditions in this population suggests the need for urgent interventions to tackle the problem, which could be directed to individuals at higher risk and to changes in the work organization and environment of the general population. PMID:16219095

Computer work and musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and upper extremity: A systematic review

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background This review examines the evidence for an association between computer work and neck and upper extremity disorders (except carpal tunnel syndrome). Methods A systematic critical review of studies of computer work and musculoskeletal disorders verified by a physical examination was performed. Results A total of 22 studies (26 articles) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Results show limited evidence for a causal relationship between computer work per se, computer mouse and keyboard time related to a diagnosis of wrist tendonitis, and for an association between computer mouse time and forearm disorders. Limited evidence was also found for a causal relationship between computer work per se and computer mouse time related to tension neck syndrome, but the evidence for keyboard time was insufficient. Insufficient evidence was found for an association between other musculoskeletal diagnoses of the neck and upper extremities, including shoulder tendonitis and epicondylitis, and any aspect of computer work. Conclusions There is limited epidemiological evidence for an association between aspects of computer work and some of the clinical diagnoses studied. None of the evidence was considered as moderate or strong and there is a need for more and better documentation. PMID:20429925

Temperature acclimation rate of aerobic scope and feeding metabolism in fishes: implications in a thermally extreme future

PubMed Central

Sandblom, Erik; Gräns, Albin; Axelsson, Michael; Seth, Henrik

2014-01-01

Temperature acclimation may offset the increased energy expenditure (standard metabolic rate, SMR) and reduced scope for activity (aerobic scope, AS) predicted to occur with local and global warming in fishes and other ectotherms. Yet, the time course and mechanisms of this process is little understood. Acclimation dynamics of SMR, maximum metabolic rate, AS and the specific dynamic action of feeding (SDA) were determined in shorthorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius) after transfer from 10°C to 16°C. SMR increased in the first week by 82% reducing AS to 55% of initial values, while peak postprandial metabolism was initially greater. This meant that the estimated AS during peak SDA approached zero, constraining digestion and leaving little room for additional aerobic processes. After eight weeks at 16°C, SMR was restored, while AS and the estimated AS during peak SDA recovered partly. Collectively, this demonstrated a considerable capacity for metabolic thermal compensation, which should be better incorporated into future models on organismal responses to climate change. A mathematical model based on the empirical data suggested that phenotypes with fast acclimation rates may be favoured by natural selection as the accumulated energetic cost of a slow acclimation rate increases in a warmer future with exacerbated thermal variations. PMID:25232133

Star-Hopping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garfinkle, Robert A.

1997-07-01

Introduction; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. How to use this book and what you are going to see; 2. How the sky works, determining your field of view, observing tips and how to navigate in the night sky; 3. January - Taurus and Orion: the bull and hunter; 4. February - Canis Minor, Canis Major, and Puppis: dog days in February and Jason's Argo; 5. March - Cancer, Leo, and Corvus: a crab, the king of the beasts, and a crow; 6. April - Ursa Major: a dipper round tripper; 7. May - Coma Berenices and Virgo: the sparkling hair of Berenice and the wheat maiden and her bushel of galaxies; 8. June - Libra and Lupus: the balance scales and the wolf; 9. July - Scorpius, Sagittarius, and Scutum: the scorpion, archer, and shield of John Sobieski; 10. August - Draco: following the trail of the dragon; 11. September - Cygnus, Lyra, Vulpecula, and Sagitta: the swan, lyre, fox, and arrow; 12. October - Andromeda and Perseus: the chained lady and her rescuer; 13. November - Cepheus and Cassiopeia: the king and queen of Joppa; 14. December - Pisces, Triangulum, and Aries: of fishes, a triangle, and a ram; 15. Messier Marathon, a sundown to sunup hop across the skies; Appendix A: Classification tables; Appendix B: The constellations; Appendix C: The Greek alphabet; Appendix D: Decimalization of the day; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

Hubble Friday - Heavy Metal Stars

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

Hubble rocks out with heavy metal stars! This 10.5-billion-year-old globular cluster, NGC 6496, is home to heavy-metal stars of a celestial kind! The stars comprising this spectacular spherical cluster are enriched with much higher proportions of metals — elements heavier than hydrogen and helium are curiously known as metals in astronomy — than stars found in similar clusters. A handful of these high-metallicity stars are also variable stars, meaning that their brightness fluctuates over time. NGC 6496 hosts a selection of long-period variables — giant pulsating stars whose brightness can take up to, and even over, a thousand days to change — and short-period eclipsing binaries, which dim when eclipsed by a stellar companion. The nature of the variability of these stars can reveal important information about their mass, radius, luminosity, temperature, composition, and evolution, providing astronomers with measurements that would be difficult or even impossible to obtain through other methods. NGC 6496 was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. The cluster resides at about 35,000 light-years away in the southern constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion). Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt Text credit: European Space Agency Read more: go.nasa.gov/1U2wqGW

Studies of evolutionary temperature adaptation: muscle function and locomotor performance in Antarctic fish.

PubMed

Franklin, C E

1998-09-01

1. Studies of evolutionary temperature adaptation of muscle and locomotor performance in fish are reviewed with a focus on the Antarctic fauna living at subzero temperatures. 2. Only limited data are available to compare the sustained and burst swimming kinematics and performance of Antarctic, temperate and tropical species. Available data indicate that low temperatures limit maximum swimming performance and this is especially evident in fish larvae. 3. In a recent study, muscle performance in the Antarctic rock cod Notothenia coriiceps at 0 degree C was found to be sufficient to produce maximum velocities during burst swimming that were similar to those seen in the sculpin Myoxocephalus scorpius at 10 degrees C, indicating temperature compensation of muscle and locomotor performance in the Antarctic fish. However, at 15 degrees C, sculpin produce maximum swimming velocities greater than N. coriiceps at 0 degree C. 4. It is recommended that strict hypothesis-driven investigations using ecologically relevant measures of performance are undertaken to study temperature adaptation in Antarctic fish. Recent detailed phylogenetic analyses of the Antarctic fish fauna and their temperate relatives will allow a stronger experimental approach by helping to separate what is due to adaptation to the cold and what is due to phylogeny alone.

Mapping of the extinction in giant molecular clouds using optical star counts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cambrésy, L.

1999-05-01

This paper presents large scale extinction maps of most nearby Giant Molecular Clouds of the Galaxy (Lupus, rho Ophiuchus, Scorpius, Coalsack, Taurus, Chamaeleon, Musca, Corona Australis, Serpens, IC 5146, Vela, Orion, Monoceros R1 and R2, Rosette, Carina) derived from a star count method using an adaptive grid and a wavelet decomposition applied to the optical data provided by the USNO-Precision Measuring Machine. The distribution of the extinction in the clouds leads to estimate their total individual masses M and their maximum of extinction. I show that the relation between the mass contained within an iso-extinction contour and the extinction is similar from cloud to cloud and allows the extrapolation of the maximum of extinction in the range 5.7 to 25.5 magnitudes. I found that about half of the mass is contained in regions where the visual extinction is smaller than 1 magnitude. The star count method used on large scale ( ~ 250 square degrees) is a powerful and relatively straightforward method to estimate the mass of molecular complexes. A systematic study of the all sky would lead to discover new clouds as I did in the Lupus complex for which I found a sixth cloud of about 10(4) M_⊙.

Structural characterization of peptides derived from prosomatostatins I and II isolated from the pancreatic islets of two species of teleostean fish: the daddy sculpin and the flounder.

PubMed

Conlon, J M; Davis, M S; Falkmer, S; Thim, L

1987-11-02

The primary structures of three peptides from extracts from the pancreatic islets of the daddy sculpin (Cottus scorpius) and three analogous peptides from the islets of the flounder (Platichthys flesus), two species of teleostean fish, have been determined by automated Edman degradation. The structures of the flounder peptides were confirmed by fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometry. The peptides show strong homology to residues (49-60), (63-96) and (98-125) of the predicted sequence of preprosomatostatin II from the anglerfish (Lophius americanus). The amino acid sequences of the peptides suggest that, in the sculpin, prosomatostatin II is cleaved at a dibasic amino acid residue processing site (corresponding to Lys61-Arg62 in anglerfish preprosomatostatin II). The resulting fragments are further cleaved at monobasic residue processing sites (corresponding to Arg48 and Arg97 in anglerfish preprosomatostatin II). In the flounder the same dibasic residue processing site is utilised but cleavage at different monobasic sites takes place (corresponding to Arg50 and Arg97 in anglerfish preprosomatostatin II). A peptide identical to mammalian somatostatin-14 was also isolated from the islets of both species and is presumed to represent a cleavage product of prosomatostatin I.

Risk factors for upper extremity venous thrombosis associated with peripherally inserted central venous catheters.

PubMed

Marnejon, Thomas; Angelo, Debra; Abu Abdou, Ahmed; Gemmel, David

2012-01-01

To identify clinically important risk factors associated with upper extremity venous thrombosis following peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICC). A retrospective case control study of 400 consecutive patients with and without upper extremity venous thrombosis post-PICC insertion was performed. Patient data included demographics, body mass index (BMI), ethnicity, site of insertion, size and lumen of catheter, internal length, infusate, and co-morbidities, such as diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure, and renal failure. Additional risk factors analyzed were active cancer, any history of cancer, recent trauma, smoking, a history of prior deep vein thrombosis, and recent surgery, defined as surgery within three months prior to PICC insertion. The prevalence of trauma, renal failure, and infusion with antibiotics and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) was higher among patients exhibiting upper extremity venous thrombosis (UEVT), when compared to controls. Patients developing UEVT were also more likely to have PICC line placement in a basilic vein and less likely to have brachial vein placement (P<.001). Left-sided PICC line sites also posed a greater risk (P=.026). The rate of standard DVT prophylaxis with low molecular weight heparin and unfractionated heparin and the use of warfarin was similar in both groups. Average length of hospital stay was almost double among patients developing UEVT, 19.5 days, when compared to patients undergoing PICC line insertion without thrombosis, 10.8 days (t=6.98, P<.001). In multivariate analysis, trauma, renal failure, left-sided catheters, basilic placement, TPN, and infusion with antibiotics, specifically vancomycin, were significant risk factors for UEVT associated with PICC insertion. Prophylaxis with low molecular weight heparin, unfractionated heparin or use of warfarin did not prevent the development of venous thrombosis in patients with PICCs. Length of hospital stay and cost are markedly increased in patients who develop PICC-associated upper extremity venous thrombosis.

Assessment of upper limb musculoskeletal pain and posture in workers of packaging units of pharmaceutical industries.

PubMed

Labbafinejad, Yasser; Danesh, Hossein; Imanizade, Zahra

2017-01-01

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are defined as the disabling or painful injury to the muscles, nerves or tendons that are caused by work or aggravated by it. Some studies confirm the association between working in packaging units in various industries and the pain in the upper limb, but also there are controversies about the possible risk factors among different working populations. The present study aims to define the potential ergonomic risk factors for musculoskeletal pain in the upper limb. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was used for assessment of the musculoskeletal pain. Some other questions about the possible risk factors were included in the questionnaire. In order to assess posture, rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) test was performed by trained ergonomists. The findings of the study reveals that shoulder pain is associated with work history (P-value = 0.01), smoking (P-value = 0.02), the level of education (P-value = 0.04) and age more than 40 years old (P-value = 0.01). Wrist pain was associated with shiftwork (P-value = 0.04) and especially fixed shiftwork (P-value = 0.04) and also age more than 40(P-value = 0.03) and missed days from work with a cut point of 7 days (P-value = 0.03). After regression, only the work history (OR = 14.4 for 10 to 20 years and OR = 32.2 for more than 20 years) and shiftwork (OR = 2.35) remained statistically significant. In this study, RULA was not associated with symptoms in the upper limb in non-heavy working industries so we do not recommend it for screening purposes. The use of decades of working history and shiftwork can be considered for this purpose in the shoulder and wrist pain respectively.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and upper airway inflammation.

PubMed

Inancli, Hasan M; Enoz, Murat

2010-01-01

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is associated with inflammatory processes and elevated plasma cytokines. Inflammatory processes associated with OSAS may also act as potential mediators of cardiovascular morbidity in these patients. OSAS is associated with elevated levels of C reactive protein (CRP), as a marker of inflammation and cardiovascular risk. At the inflammatory point of view, the levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6, hsCRP, adhesion molecules, monocyte chemo attractant protein-1 and resist in were markedly and significantly elevated in patients with sleep apnea than those in normal control subjects. We reviewed several recent patents and literature in English about OSAS and upper airway inflammation relation since 1966 from the Medline database.

The benefit of HH during the CPAP titration in the cool sleeping environment.

PubMed

Li, Yayong; Wang, Yina

2016-12-01

Upper airway symptom associated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment is an important factor influencing CPAP adherence. There are conflicting data on the effect of a heated humidifier (HH) during CPAP titration for patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). This study investigated the effects of HH during CPAP titration in the cool sleeping environment. Forty newly diagnosed OSAHS patients who received CPAP titration in the cool sleeping environment were randomly assigned to HH and non-HH groups. A questionnaire was used to evaluate upper airway symptoms, satisfaction with initial CPAP treatment, and willingness to further use CPAP. Some therapy parameters including leak, apnea hypopnea index (AHI) reduction, and optimal CPAP pressure level were analyzed. We compared these subjective and objective data between the two groups. In subjective sensation, the use of HH can alleviate upper airway symptoms associated with CPAP titration (P < 0.001). The HH group has benefit in satisfaction with initial CPAP treatment (P < 0.001) and further willingness to use CPAP (P < 0.01), although there were no significant differences in leak, AHI reduction, and optimal CPAP pressure between the two groups. The use of HH is recommended during CPAP titration in the cool sleeping environment because of its benefit in the treatment of upper airway symptoms associated with CPAP therapy and improvement of the CPAP acceptance.

Associations between orthopaedic disturbances and unilateral crossbite in children with asymmetry of the upper cervical spine.

PubMed

Korbmacher, Heike; Koch, L; Eggers-Stroeder, G; Kahl-Nieke, B

2007-02-01

The objective of the present study was to detect possible associations between unilateral crossbite and orthopaedic disturbances in children with asymmetry of the upper cervical spine. Fifty-five children aged 3-10 years (22 girls and 33 boys) with a unilateral crossbite and 55 gender- and age-matched children with a symmetric occlusion but no crossbite, who served as the control group, were selected from an orthopaedic cohort of 240 patients. In all children, asymmetry of the upper cervical region was confirmed by radiographs and palpation. The following orthopaedic aspects were investigated: oblique shoulder and pelvis, scoliosis, functional leg length difference, and laxity of ligaments of the foot. The differences between the groups were analysed by means of an unpaired t-test. An increased occurrence of orthopaedic parameters in the frontal plane was observed in children with a unilateral malocclusion. A unilateral crossbite was not necessarily combined with a pathological orthopaedic variable, but statistically, children with a unilateral malocclusion showed more often an oblique shoulder (P = 0.004), scoliosis (P = 0.04), an oblique pelvis (P = 0.007), and a functional leg length difference (P = 0.002) than children with symmetry. The results suggest that a unilateral crossbite in children with asymmetry of the upper cervical spine is associated with orthopaedic disturbances. There is no evidence of a causal link.

Diagnostic accuracy of T stage of gastric cancer from the view point of application of laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy.

PubMed

Kouzu, Keita; Tsujimoto, Hironori; Hiraki, Shuichi; Nomura, Shinsuke; Yamamoto, Junji; Ueno, Hideki

2018-06-01

The preoperative diagnosis of T stage is important in selecting limited treatments, such as laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy (LPG), which lacks the ability to palpate the tumor. Therefore, the present study examined the accuracy of preoperative diagnosis of the depth of tumor invasion in early gastric cancer from the view point of the indication for LPG. A total of 193 patients with cT1 gastric cancer underwent LPG with gastrointestinal endoscopic examinations and a series of upper gastrointestinal radiographs. The patients with pT1 were classified into the correctly diagnosed group (163 patients, 84.5%), and those with pT2 or deeper were classified into the underestimated group (30 patients, 15.5%). Factors that were associated with underestimation of tumor depth were analyzed. Tumor size in the underestimated group was significantly larger; the lesions were more frequently located in the upper third of the stomach and were more histologically diffuse, scirrhous, with infiltrative growth, and more frequent lymphatic and venous invasion. For upper third lesions, in univariate analysis, histology (diffuse type) was associated with underestimation of tumor depth. Multivariate analysis found that tumor size (≥20 mm) and histology (diffuse type) were independently associated with underestimation of tumor depth. gastric cancer in the upper third of the stomach with diffuse type histology and >20 mm needs particular attention when considering the application of LPG.

Diagnostic accuracy of T stage of gastric cancer from the view point of application of laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy

PubMed Central

Kouzu, Keita; Tsujimoto, Hironori; Hiraki, Shuichi; Nomura, Shinsuke; Yamamoto, Junji; Ueno, Hideki

2018-01-01

The preoperative diagnosis of T stage is important in selecting limited treatments, such as laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy (LPG), which lacks the ability to palpate the tumor. Therefore, the present study examined the accuracy of preoperative diagnosis of the depth of tumor invasion in early gastric cancer from the view point of the indication for LPG. A total of 193 patients with cT1 gastric cancer underwent LPG with gastrointestinal endoscopic examinations and a series of upper gastrointestinal radiographs. The patients with pT1 were classified into the correctly diagnosed group (163 patients, 84.5%), and those with pT2 or deeper were classified into the underestimated group (30 patients, 15.5%). Factors that were associated with underestimation of tumor depth were analyzed. Tumor size in the underestimated group was significantly larger; the lesions were more frequently located in the upper third of the stomach and were more histologically diffuse, scirrhous, with infiltrative growth, and more frequent lymphatic and venous invasion. For upper third lesions, in univariate analysis, histology (diffuse type) was associated with underestimation of tumor depth. Multivariate analysis found that tumor size (≥20 mm) and histology (diffuse type) were independently associated with underestimation of tumor depth. gastric cancer in the upper third of the stomach with diffuse type histology and >20 mm needs particular attention when considering the application of LPG. PMID:29844908

Free and forced convection in Earth's upper mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, Paul S.

Convective motion within Earth's upper mantle occurs as a combination of two primary modes: (1) buoyant upwelling due to the formation of gravitational instabilities at thermochemical boundary layers, and (2) passive flow associated with the divergence of lithospheric plates at mid-ocean ridges and their re-entry into the mantle at subduction zones. The first mode is driven by variations in density and is therefore classified as 'free' convection. Examples of free convection within the Earth include the diapiric flow of hydrous and/or partially molten mantle at subduction zones and mantle plumes. The second mode, while ultimately driven by density on a global scale, can be treated kinematically on the scale of the upper mantle. This type of flow is designated 'forced' convection. On the scale of individual buoyant upwellings in the upper mantle, the forced convection associated with plate tectonics acts to modify the morphology of the flow associated with free convection. Regions in which such interactions occur are typically associated with transfer of significant quantities of both mass and energy (i.e., heat) between the deep interior and the surface of the Earth and thus afford a window into the dynamics of the Earth's interior. The dynamics and the consequences of the interaction between these two modes of convection is the focus of this dissertation. I have employed both laboratory and numerical modeling techniques to investigate the interaction between free and forced convection in this study. Each of these approaches has its own inherent strengths and weaknesses. These approaches are therefore complementary, and their use in combination is particularly powerful. I have focused on two examples interaction between free and forced convection in the upper mantle in this study. Chapter I considers the interaction between ascending diapirs of hydrous and/or partially molten mantle and flow in the mantle wedge at subduction zones using laboratory models. Chapter II and Chapter III consider the interaction between an ascending mantle plume and the large scale shear flow associated with the divergence of plates at a nearby ridge axis.

A Cross-Sectional Survey of the Association between Bilateral Topical Prostaglandin Analogue Use and Ocular Adnexal Features

PubMed Central

Shah, Mamta; Lee, Grace; Lefebvre, Daniel R.; Kronberg, Benjamin; Loomis, Stephanie; Brauner, Stacey C.; Turalba, Angela; Rhee, Douglas J.; Freitag, Suzanne K.; Pasquale, Louis R.

2013-01-01

We studied the relation between prostaglandin analogue use and ocular adnexal features. We used a prospective, cross-sectional study involving 157 current, 15 past, and 171 never users of prostaglandin analogues. Patients 50 years of age or older and without conditions affecting ocular adnexal anatomy underwent glaucoma medication use history, external digital photography and systematic external adnexal exam. Two masked readers assessed the digital photos for upper lid dermatochalasis and lower lid steatoblepharon using a validated grading scheme. Another masked clinical examiner also assessed upper lid ptosis, levator muscle function, and inferior scleral show. We performed ordinal logistic regression analysis accounting for multiple covariates to assess the relation between prostaglandin analogue use and adnexal features. Multivariable analyses indicated there was a 230-fold increased risk of incremental involution of dermatochalasis (odds ratio (OR)  =  2.30; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.43–3.69; p = 5.44E-04) and a 249-fold increased risk of incremental loss of lower lid steatoblepharon (OR  =  2.49; 95% CI, 1.54–4.03; p =  1.98E-04) associated with current prostaglandin analogue use (bimatoprost 0.03%, travoprost 0.005%, or latanoprost 0.004%) versus prostaglandin analogue never or past users. Upper lid ptosis (OR  =  4.04; 95% CI, 2.43–6.72; p = 7.37E-08), levator dysfunction (OR =  7.51; 95% CI, 3.39–16.65; p = 6.74E-07) and lower lid retraction (OR = 2.60; 95% CI, 1.58–4.28; p = 1.72E-04) were highly associated with current prostaglandin analogue use versus prostaglandin analogue never or past users. The associations between prostaglandin analogue use and deepening of the upper lid sulci and between prostaglandin analogue use and loss of inferior periorbital fat are confirmed in this multivariable analysis. The associations between prostaglandin analogue use and levator muscle dysfunction and between prostaglandin analogue use and upper lid ptosis represent significant side effects that could impact visual function in glaucoma patients. PMID:23650502

Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) - initial evaluation and management.

PubMed

Khamaysi, Iyad; Gralnek, Ian M

2013-10-01

Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is the most common reason that the 'on-call' gastroenterologist is consulted. Despite the diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities of upper endoscopy, there is still significant associated morbidity and mortality in patients experiencing acute UGIB, thus this is a true GI emergency. Acute UGIB is divided into non-variceal and variceal causes. The most common type of acute UGIB is 'non-variceal' and includes diagnoses such as peptic ulcer (gastric and duodenal), gastroduodenal erosions, Mallory-Weiss tears, erosive oesophagitis, arterio-venous malformations, Dieulafoy's lesion, and upper GI tract tumours and malignancies. This article focuses exclusively on initial management strategies for acute upper GI bleeding. We discuss up to date and evidence-based strategies for patient risk stratification, initial patient management prior to endoscopy, potential causes of UGIB, role of proton pump inhibitors, prokinetic agents, prophylactic antibiotics, vasoactive pharmacotherapies, and timing of endoscopy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Upper extremity impairments in type 1 diabetes with long duration; common problems with great impact on daily life.

PubMed

Gutefeldt, Kerstin; Hedman, Christina A; Thyberg, Ingrid S M; Bachrach-Lindström, Margareta; Arnqvist, Hans J; Spångeus, Anna

2017-11-05

To investigate the prevalence, activity limitations and potential risk factors of upper extremity impairments in type 1 diabetes in comparison to controls. In a cross-sectional population-based study in the southeast of Sweden, patients with type 1 diabetes <35 years at onset, duration ≥20 years, <67 years old and matched controls were invited to answer a questionnaire on upper extremity impairments and activity limitations and to take blood samples. Seven hundred and seventy-three patients (ages 50 ± 10 years, diabetes duration 35 ± 10 years) and 708 controls (ages 54 ± 9 years) were included. Shoulder pain and stiffness, hand paraesthesia and finger impairments were common in patients with a prevalence of 28-48%, which was 2-4-folds higher than in controls. Compared to controls, the patients had more bilateral impairments, often had coexistence of several upper extremity impairments, and in the presence of impairments, reported more pronounced activity limitations. Female gender (1.72 (1.066-2.272), p = 0.014), longer duration (1.046 (1.015-1.077), p = 0.003), higher body mass index (1.08 (1.017-1.147), p = 0.013) and HbA1c (1.029 (1.008-1.05), p = 0.007) were associated with upper extremity impairments. Compared to controls, patients with type 1 diabetes have a high prevalence of upper extremity impairments, often bilateral, which are strongly associated with activity limitations. Recognising these in clinical practise is crucial, and improved preventative, therapeutic and rehabilitative interventions are needed. Implications for rehabilitation Upper extremity impairments affecting the shoulder, hand and fingers are common in patients with type 1 diabetes, the prevalence being 2-4-fold higher compared to non-diabetic persons. Patients with diabetes type 1 with upper extremity impairments have more pronounced limitations in daily activities compared to controls with similar impairments. Recognising upper extremity impairments and activity limitations are important and improved preventive, therapeutic and rehabilitation methods are needed.

Treading Old Paths in New Ways: Upper Secondary Students Using a Digital Tool of the Professional Historian

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nygren, Thomas; Vikström, Lotta

2013-01-01

This article presents problems and possibilities associated with incorporating into history teaching a digital demographic database made for professional historians. We detect and discuss the outcome of how students in Swedish upper secondary schools respond to a teaching approach involving digitized registers comprising 19th century individuals…

The Role of Perceived Parental Socialization Practices in School Adjustment among Norwegian Upper Secondary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Studsrod, Ingunn; Bru, Edvin

2009-01-01

Background: Lack of adjustment or school failure is a concern to educators, educational and school psychologists as well as parents, but few studies have focused on school adjustment during late adolescence. Moreover, studies have yet to explore associations between parenting and school adjustment among upper secondary school students. Aim: The…

Regional patterns of major nonnative invasive plants and associated factors in upper Midwest forests

Treesearch

Zhaofei Fan; W. Keith Moser; Mark H. Hansen; Mark D. Nelson

2013-01-01

Nonnative invasive plants (IPs) are rapidly spreading into natural ecosystems (e.g., forests and grasslands). Potential threats of IP invasion into natural ecosystems include biodiversity loss, structural and environmental change, habitat degradation, and economic losses. The Upper Midwest of the United States encompasses the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan...

Vaginal orgasm is more prevalent among women with a prominent tubercle of the upper lip.

PubMed

Brody, Stuart; Costa, Rui Miguel

2011-10-01

Recent studies have uncovered multiple markers of vaginal orgasm history (unblocked pelvic movement during walking, less use of immature psychological defense mechanisms, greater urethrovaginal space). Other markers (perhaps of prenatal origin) even without obvious mechanistic roles in vaginal orgasm might exist, and a clinical observation led to the novel hypothesis that a prominent tubercle of the upper lip is such a marker. To examine the hypothesis that a prominent tubercle of the upper lip is associated specifically with greater likelihood of experiencing vaginal orgasm (orgasm elicited by penile-vaginal intercourse [PVI] without concurrent masturbation). Women (N = 258, predominantly Scottish) completed an online survey reporting their frequencies of various sexual activities and corresponding orgasms, age, and the prominence of the tubercle of their upper lip. Social desirability response bias was also assessed. Multivariate associations of lip tubercle prominence with vaginal orgasm (ever and past month consistency) and with orgasm by other means. RESULTS.: A prominent and sharply raised lip tubercle was associated with greater odds (odds ratio = 12.3) of ever having a vaginal orgasm, and also with greater past month vaginal orgasm consistency (an effect driven by the women who never had a vaginal orgasm), than less prominent lip tubercle categories. Lip tubercle was not associated with social desirability responding, or with orgasm triggered by masturbation during PVI, solitary or partner clitoral or vaginal masturbation, vibrator, or cunnilingus. The results are discussed in light of the unique nature of vaginal orgasm and the possibility of prenatal developmental influences. © 2011 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

Shoulder pain in adolescent athletes: prevalence, associated factors and its influence on upper limb function.

PubMed

Oliveira, Valéria M A de; Pitangui, Ana C R; Gomes, Mayra R A; Silva, Hítalo A da; Passos, Muana H P Dos; Araújo, Rodrigo C de

Sports that require the constant use of an upper limb demand the maximum kinetic chain efficiency in this segment. Immaturity of the musculoskeletal system, followed by failure in motor skills can expose adolescents to major reports of pain complaints, particularly for the shoulder. To evaluate the prevalence of shoulder pain in adolescent athletes and identify possible factors associated with the complaint. A total of 310 athletes, of both sexes and aged between 10 and 19 years old participated on this study. The subjects filled out a questionnaire with personal, sports and upper limb function (Quick-DASH) questions. We evaluated the height, body mass, shoulder rotation range and stability of the upper limb using the CKCUES-test. The association between pain and the variables was analyzed using multilevel modeling logistic regression. We used the Mann-Whitney test for comparing between pain and function. The prevalence of shoulder pain was 43.5%. Athletes between 15 and 19 years, handball and judo practitioners, are 1.86, 2.14 and 3.07 more likely to report shoulder pain, respectively, when compared with other sports and ages. Shoulder pain reduced function scores (p<0.001) and increased changes in the range of motion (p<0.04). Shoulder pain is highly prevalent and is associated especially with older adolescent athletes of handball and judo, and affects the levels of function and the range of the shoulder. Copyright © 2017 Associação Brasileira de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em Fisioterapia. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Factors influencing the development of otitis media among Sicilian children affected by upper respiratory tract infections.

PubMed

Martines, Francesco; Salvago, Pietro; Ferrara, Sergio; Messina, Giuseppe; Mucia, Marianna; Plescia, Fulvio; Sireci, Federico

2016-01-01

Upper respiratory tract infection is a nonspecific term used to describe an acute infection involving the nose, paranasal sinuses, pharynx and larynx. Upper respiratory tract infections in children are often associated with Eustachian tube dysfunction and complicated by otitis media, an inflammatory process within the middle ear. Environmental, epidemiologic and familial risk factors for otitis media (such as sex, socioeconomic and educational factors, smoke exposure, allergy or duration of breastfeeding) have been previously reported, but actually no data about their diffusion among Sicilian children with upper respiratory tract infections are available. To investigate the main risk factors for otitis media and their prevalence in Sicilian children with and without upper respiratory tract infections. A case-control study of 204 children with upper respiratory tract infections who developed otitis media during a 3 weeks monitoring period and 204 age and sex-matched healthy controls. Seventeen epidemiologically relevant features were inventoried by means of standardized questionnaires and skin tests were performed. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to examine the association between risk factors and occurrence of otitis media. Otitis media resulted strongly associated to large families, low parental educational attainment, schooling within the third years of life (p<0.05); children were more susceptible to develop otitis media in the presence of asthma, cough, laryngopharyngeal reflux disease, snoring and apnea (p<0.05). Allergy and urban localization increased the risk of otitis media in children exposed to smoke respectively of 166% and 277% (p<0.05); the joint effect of asthma and presence of pets in allergic population increased the risk of recurrence of 11%, while allergy, cough and runny nose together increased this risk of 74%. Upper respiratory tract infections and otitis media are common childhood diseases strongly associated with low parental educational attainment (p=0.0001), exposure to smoke (p=0.0001), indoor exposure to mold (p=0.0001), laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (p=0.0002) and the lack of breast-feeding (p=0.0014); an increased risk of otitis media recurrences was observed in the presence of allergy, persistent cough and runny nose (p=0.0001). The modification of the identified risk factors for otitis media should be recommended to realize a correct primary care intervention. Copyright © 2015 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Motor fatigability in persons with multiple sclerosis: Relation between different upper limb muscles, and with fatigue and the perceived use of the arm in daily life.

PubMed

Severijns, Deborah; Van Geel, Fanny; Feys, Peter

2018-01-01

Motor fatigability is increasingly acknowledged in persons with MS (pwMS). It is unknown whether fatigability is generalized across upper limb muscles and relates to fatigue and perceived difficulties in upper limb use. This observational case-controlled study included twenty PwMS (median EDSS = 3, range 1.5-6.5) and twenty healthy controls who performed 30″ sustained maximal muscle contractions for index finger abduction, hand grip, elbow flexion and shoulder abduction. A static fatigue index (SFI) was calculated to assess motor fatigability for each muscle group. PwMS completed the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and Modified Fatigue Index Scale (MFIS), to quantify severity and perceived impact of fatigue and the Manual Ability Measure (MAM-36) reflecting perceived difficulty in using the upper limbs. Comparisons between groups and muscles was made by t-tests. Associations between outcomes were calculated with correlation coefficients. Fatigue was highest in pwMS. PwMS showed preserved muscle strength and a greater motor fatigability in elbow flexors compared to healthy controls. SFI of elbow flexors and shoulder abductors were associated, and contributed to FSS and MFIS. SFI of elbow flexors and finger abductors predicted half of the variation in MAM-36. Increased motor fatigability was only present in elbow flexors of PwMS, indicating that expression of motor fatigability is not generalized. Fatigability was associated with perceived fatigue (impact) and daily life upper limb use. Results are preliminary given the small sample size with predominantly persons with mild MS. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Double-coronal X-Ray and Microwave Sources Associated with a Magnetic Breakout Solar Eruption

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Yao; Wu, Zhao; Zhao, Di

Double-coronal hard X-ray (HXR) sources are believed to be critical observational evidence of bi-directional energy release through magnetic reconnection in large-scale current sheets in solar flares. Here, we present a study on double-coronal sources observed in both HXR and microwave regimes, revealing new characteristics distinct from earlier reports. This event is associated with a footpoint-occulted X1.3-class flare (2014 April 25, starting at 00:17 UT) and a coronal mass ejection that were likely triggered by the magnetic breakout process, with the lower source extending upward from the top of the partially occulted flare loops and the upper source co-incident with rapidlymore » squeezing-in side lobes (at a speed of ∼250 km s{sup −1} on both sides). The upper source can be identified at energies as high as 70–100 keV. The X-ray upper source is characterized by flux curves that differ from those of the lower source, a weak energy dependence of projected centroid altitude above 20 keV, a shorter duration, and an HXR photon spectrum slightly harder than those of the lower source. In addition, the microwave emission at 34 GHz also exhibits a similar double-source structure and the microwave spectra at both sources are in line with gyrosynchrotron emission given by non-thermal energetic electrons. These observations, especially the co-incidence of the very-fast squeezing-in motion of side lobes and the upper source, indicate that the upper source is associated with (and possibly caused by) this fast motion of arcades. This sheds new light on the origin of the corona double-source structure observed in both HXRs and microwaves.« less

Optimal Body Size and Limb Length Ratios Associated with 100-m Personal-Best Swim Speeds.

PubMed

Nevill, Alan M; Oxford, Samuel W; Duncan, Michael J

2015-08-01

This study aims to identify optimal body size and limb segment length ratios associated with 100-m personal-best (PB) swim speeds in children and adolescents. Fifty national-standard youth swimmers (21 males and 29 females age 11-16 yr; mean ± SD age, 13.5 ± 1.5 yr) participated in the study. Anthropometry comprised stature; body mass; skinfolds; maturity offset; upper arm, lower arm, and hand lengths; and upper leg, lower leg, and foot lengths. Swimming performance was taken as the PB time recorded in competition for the 100-m freestyle swim. To identify the optimal body size and body composition components associated with 100-m PB swim speeds (having controlled for age and maturity offset), we adopted a multiplicative allometric log-linear regression model, which was refined using backward elimination. Lean body mass was the singularly most important whole-body characteristic. Stature and body mass did not contribute to the model, suggesting that the advantage of longer levers was limb-specific rather than a general whole-body advantage. The allometric model also identified that having greater limb segment length ratios [i.e., arm ratio = (low arm)/(upper arm); foot-to-leg ratio = (foot)/(lower leg)] was key to PB swim speeds. It is only by adopting multiplicative allometric models that the above mentioned ratios could have been derived. The advantage of having a greater lower arm is clear; however, having a shorter upper arm (achieved by adopting a closer elbow angle technique or by possessing a naturally endowed shorter upper arm), at the same time, is a new insight into swimming performance. A greater foot-to-lower-leg ratio suggests that a combination of larger feet and shorter lower leg length may also benefit PB swim speeds.

Improvement in upper leg muscle strength underlies beneficial effects of exercise therapy in knee osteoarthritis: secondary analysis from a randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Knoop, J; Steultjens, M P M; Roorda, L D; Lems, W F; van der Esch, M; Thorstensson, C A; Twisk, J W R; Bierma-Zeinstra, S M A; van der Leeden, M; Dekker, J

2015-06-01

Although exercise therapy is effective for reducing pain and activity limitations in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), the underlying mechanisms are unclear. This study aimed to evaluate if improvements in neuromuscular factors (i.e. upper leg muscle strength and knee proprioception) underlie the beneficial effects of exercise therapy in patients with knee OA. Secondary analyses from a randomised controlled trial, with measurements at baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks and 38 weeks. Rehabilitation centre. One hundred and fifty-nine patients diagnosed with knee OA. Exercise therapy. Changes in pain [numeric rating scale (NRS)] and activity limitations [Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) physical function subscale and get-up-and-go test] during the study period. Independent variables were changes in upper leg muscle strength and knee joint proprioception (i.e. motion sense) during the study period. Longitudinal regression analyses (generalised estimating equation) were performed to analyse associations between changes in upper leg muscle strength and knee proprioception with changes in pain and activity limitations. Improved muscle strength was significantly associated with reductions in NRS pain {B coefficient -2.5 [95% confidence interval (CI) -3.7 to -1.4], meaning that every change of 1 unit of strength was linked to a change of -2.5 units of pain}, WOMAC physical function (-8.8, 95% CI -13.4 to -4.2) and get-up-and-go test (-1.7, 95% CI -2.4 to -1.0). Improved proprioception was not significantly associated with better outcomes of exercise therapy (P>0.05). Upper leg muscle strengthening is one of the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of exercise therapy in patients with knee OA. Copyright © 2014 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of premature loss of temporary upper molars on permanent molars.

PubMed

Cernei, E R; Maxim, Dana Cristiana; Zetu, Irina Nicoleta

2015-01-01

Premature loss of primary molars due to dental caries and their complications has been associated with space loss and eruptive difficulties, especially when the loss occurs early. The aim of our study was to determine the impact of premature loss of temporary upper molars upon the longitudinal axis of the first and second upper permanent molar. The study group included 64 patients 6-9 years old with premature loss of primary molars and a control group of 48 patients with intact temporary teeth. It was evaluated the angle between longitudinal axis of first and second upper permanent molars and occlusal plane. The sofware used is Easy Dent 4 Viewer®.The data were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 20.0; SPSS, Chicago, III). It was observed that premature loss of upper second deciduous molars modifies greater the vertical axis of the permanent molars than the premature loss of first upper primary molar. First upper primary molar loss cause an acceleration eruption of first premolar, which will produce a distal inclintion of the both permanent molars. The use of space maintainers after premature loss of the second upper temporary molar is a last solution in preventing tridimensional lesions in the dental arch and occlusion.

White-collar workers' self-reported physical symptoms associated with using computers.

PubMed

Korpinen, Leena; Pääkkönen, Rauno; Gobba, Fabriziomaria

2012-01-01

The aim of our work was to study the physical symptoms of upper- and lower-level white-collar workers using a questionnaire. The study was cross-sectional with a questionnaire posted to 15 000 working-age persons. The responses (6121) included 970 upper- and 1150 lower-level white-collar workers. In the upper- and lower-level white-collar worker groups, 45.7 and 56.0%, respectively, had experienced pain, numbness and aches in the neck either pretty often or more frequently. When comparing daily computer users and nonusers, there were significant differences in pain, numbness and aches in the neck or in the shoulders. In addition, age and gender influenced some physical symptoms. In the future, it is essential to take into account that working with computers can be especially associated with physical symptoms in the neck and in the shoulders when workers use computers daily.

Nasopharyngeal polymicrobial colonization during health, viral upper respiratory infection and upper respiratory bacterial infection.

PubMed

Xu, Qingfu; Wischmeyer, Jareth; Gonzalez, Eduardo; Pichichero, Michael E

2017-07-01

We sought to understand how polymicrobial colonization varies during health, viral upper respiratory infection (URI) and acute upper respiratory bacterial infection to understand differences in infection-prone vs. non-prone patients. Nasopharyngeal (NP) samples were collected from 74 acute otitis media (AOM) infection-prone and 754 non-prone children during 2094 healthy visits, 673 viral URI visits and 631 AOM visits. Three otopathogens Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn), Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), and Moraxella catarrhalis (Mcat) were identified by culture. NP colonization rates of multiple otopathogens during health were significantly lower than during viral URI, and during URI they were lower than at onset of upper respiratory bacterial infection in both AOM infection-prone and non-prone children. AOM infection-prone children had higher polymicrobial colonization rates than non-prone children during health, viral URI and AOM. Polymicrobial colonization rates of AOM infection-prone children during health were equivalent to that of non-prone children during viral URI, and during viral URI were equivalent to that of non-prone during AOM infection. Spn colonization was positively associated with NTHi and Mcat colonization during health, but negatively during AOM infection. The infection-prone patients more frequently have multiple potential bacterial pathogens in the NP than the non-prone patients. Polymicrobial interaction in the NP differs during health and at onset of infection. Copyright © 2017 The British Infection Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Variation of p53 mutational spectra between carcinoma of the upper and lower respiratory tract.

PubMed

Law, J C; Whiteside, T L; Gollin, S M; Weissfeld, J; El-Ashmawy, L; Srivastava, S; Landreneau, R J; Johnson, J T; Ferrell, R E

1995-07-01

Mutations of the p53 tumor suppressor gene are the most common genetic alterations associated with human cancer. Tumor-associated p53 mutations often show characteristic tissue-specific profiles which may infer environmentally induced mutational mechanisms. The p53 mutational frequency and spectrum were determined for 95 carcinomas of the upper and lower respiratory tract (32 lung and 63 upper respiratory tract). Mutations were identified at a frequency of 30% in upper respiratory tract (URT) tumors and 31% in lung tumors. All 29 identified mutations were single-base substitutions. Comparison of the frequency of specific base substitutions between lung and URT showed a striking difference. Transitions occurred at a frequency of 68% in URT, but only 30% in lung. Mutations involving G:C-->A:T transitions, which are commonly reported in gastric and esophageal tumors, were the most frequently identified alteration in URT (11/19). Mutations involving G:C-->T:A transversions, which were relatively common in lung tumors (3/10) and are representative of tobacco smoke-induced mutations were rare in URT tumors (1/19). Interestingly, G:C-->A:T mutations at CpG sites, which are characteristic of endogenous processes, were observed frequently in URT tumors (9/19) but only rarely in lung tumors (1/10), suggesting that both endogenous and exogenous factors are responsible for the observed differences in mutational spectra between the upper and lower respiratory systems.

Heterogeneous Origins of Human Sleep Spindles in Different Cortical Layers.

PubMed

Hagler, Donald J; Ulbert, István; Wittner, Lucia; Erőss, Loránd; Madsen, Joseph R; Devinsky, Orrin; Doyle, Werner; Fabó, Dániel; Cash, Sydney S; Halgren, Eric

2018-03-21

Sleep spindles are a cardinal feature in human NREM sleep and may be important for memory consolidation. We studied the intracortical organization of spindles in men and women by recording spontaneous sleep spindles from different cortical layers using linear microelectrode arrays. Two patterns of spindle generation were identified using visual inspection, and confirmed with factor analysis. Spindles (10-16 Hz) were largest and most common in upper and middle channels, with limited involvement of deep channels. Many spindles were observed in only upper or only middle channels, but approximately half occurred in both. In spindles involving both middle and upper channels, the spindle envelope onset in middle channels led upper by ∼25-50 ms on average. The phase relationship between spindle waves in upper and middle channels varied dynamically within spindle epochs, and across individuals. Current source density analysis demonstrated that upper and middle channel spindles were both generated by an excitatory supragranular current sink while an additional deep source was present for middle channel spindles only. Only middle channel spindles were accompanied by deep low (25-50 Hz) and high (70-170 Hz) gamma activity. These results suggest that upper channel spindles are generated by supragranular pyramids, and middle channel by infragranular. Possibly, middle channel spindles are generated by core thalamocortical afferents, and upper channel by matrix. The concurrence of these patterns could reflect engagement of cortical circuits in the integration of more focal (core) and distributed (matrix) aspects of memory. These results demonstrate that at least two distinct intracortical systems generate human sleep spindles. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Bursts of ∼14 Hz oscillations, lasting ∼1 s, have been recognized for over 80 years as cardinal features of mammalian sleep. Recent findings suggest that they play a key role in organizing cortical activity during memory consolidation. We used linear microelectrode arrays to study their intracortical organization in humans. We found that spindles could be divided into two types. One mainly engages upper layers of the cortex, which are considered to be specialized for associative activity. The other engages both upper and middle layers, including those devoted to sensory input. The interaction of these two spindle types may help organize the interaction of sensory and associative aspects of memory consolidation. Copyright © 2018 the authors 0270-6474/18/383013-13$15.00/0.

Poor safety climate, long work hours, and musculoskeletal discomfort among Latino horse farm workers.

PubMed

Swanberg, Jennifer; Clouser, Jessica Miller; Gan, Wenqi; Flunker, John C; Westneat, Susan; Browning, Steven R

2017-09-03

This study investigated the prevalence of self-reported musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD) and work-related factors associated with elevated MSD among Latino thoroughbred farm workers. Participants (N = 225) were recruited using a community-based purposive sampling approach to participate in in-person interviews. Of these workers, 85% experienced MSD. MSD was divided into tertiles; the upper tertile was defined as elevated. Multivariable Poisson regression revealed associations between any elevated MSD and longer tenure on horse farms, longer work hours, and poor safety climate. Elevated neck/back MSD was associated with longer tenure, longer work hours, and poor safety climate. Elevated upper extremity MSD was associated with age and poor safety climate. Elevated lower extremity MSD was associated with longer tenure, longer work hours, and being female. Musculoskeletal discomfort is common among these workers. Improving safety climate and minimizing long work hours is recommended.

[Nutritional survey in Upper Volta. 2. Risk factors associated with malnutrition].

PubMed

Bénéfice, E; Chevassus-Agnes, S; Epelboin, A; Ndiaye, A M

1983-01-01

Malnutrition-associated risk factors have been studied in Upper Volta following a multivariate statistic analysis performed with a computer (Manova). The multiple correlation coefficients for 7 predictors were 0.14 for the children and 0.34 for the women. Results show that the nutritional situation worsens when the density of the population leads to an over exploitation of the land in the North West. Two different life-styles, i.e. cattle breeding and agriculture determine strikingly different nutritional situations among women and children. Family factors are also important to the nutritional status of the children.

Subperiosteal lateral browlift and its relationship to upper blepharoplasty.

PubMed

Gasperoni, C; Salgarello, M; Gargani, G

1993-01-01

Skin redundancy of the upper eyelid is often associated with a variable degree of ptosis of the lateral third of the eyebrow, which increases the extent of the defect. Correcting this condition implies a combination of a temporal lift with a standard upper blepharoplasty. In the temporal lift it is possible to perform an easy subaponeurotic and subperiosteal dissection of the soft tissues of the temporal area through an incision behind the hairline with pleasing and long-lasting results. The brow ptosis is corrected without noticeable scars and with inconspicuous damage to scalp follicles of the temporal region.

Health of white sucker within the St. Louis River area of concern associated with habitat usage as assessed using stable isotopes

EPA Science Inventory

In Spring 2011, 200 adult white sucker were collected in four areas of the St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC), located in Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA. The areas included the upper AOC as a reference area, the upper estuary, St. Louis Bay and Superior Bay. Grossly visible abno...

77 FR 53769 - Safety Zone; Liberty to Freedom Swims, Liberty Island, Upper Bay and Hudson River, NY

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-04

... 1625-AA00 Safety Zone; Liberty to Freedom Swims, Liberty Island, Upper Bay and Hudson River, NY AGENCY... September 5, 2012 and September 15, 2012 Liberty to Freedom swim events. This temporary safety zone is necessary to protect the maritime public and event participants from the hazards associated with swim events...

Innovative Methods in Science Education in Japan--Strategic Methods on Smooth Transition from Upper Secondary School to the University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shinohara, Fumihiko

2006-01-01

This paper presents a brief introduction of the science education in Japan with an overview of the educational contents and standards laid by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It highlights the results of the International Education Association (IEA) on science education in Japan at upper secondary…

Forested Communities of the Upper Montane in the Central and Southern Sierra Nevada

Treesearch

Donald A. Potter

1998-01-01

Upper montane forests in the central and southern Sierra Nevada of California were classified into 26 plant associations by using information collected from 0.1-acre circular plots. Within this region, the forested environment including the physiographic setting, geology, soils, and vegetation is described in detail. A simulation model is presented for this portion of...

Oak wilt and oak decline in the upper midwest USA

Treesearch

Jennifer Juzwik; Thomas L. Schmidt

2000-01-01

Oaks are a significant component of the hardwood forests of the Upper Midwest USA. Numerous species occur over vast areas in the region and are highly valued for a variety of reasons. Oak wilt caused by C. fagacearum, and oak decline associated with several factors are the major causes of the species, deterioration and death in the region....

Mental health stigma and attitudes to psychiatry among Bangladeshi medical students.

PubMed

Giasuddin, Noor Ahmed; Levav, Itzhak; Gal, Gilad

2015-03-01

The shortage of specialized human resources in mental health in Bangladesh requires active recruitment of psychiatric residents. In addition, the involvement of positively inclined health personnel, for example, medical doctors, emerges as an immediate priority. To explore stigma among medical students toward persons with mental disorders (PMDs) and their attitudes toward psychiatry. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Faridpur Medical College in Bangladesh before (First year) and following psychiatric rotation (Fifth year). Students (N = 200) filled anonymous questionnaires measuring stigma toward PMDs and attitudes to psychiatry. Upper medical school year (p = .028), older age (p = .005), mother's lower academic level (p = .043), upper and lower socioeconomic level affiliation (p = .008) and self-consultation for mental or neurological complaints (p = .032) were associated with increased stigma toward PMDs. More favorable attitudes toward psychiatry were found in upper medical school year (p = .073) and were significantly associated with female gender (p = .018) and middle socioeconomic level affiliation (p = .013). The relative improvement in attitudes toward psychiatry in the upper medical school year is overshadowed by the increased stigma toward PMDs. Specific anti-stigma program in the curriculum and strategies to improve the attitudes are required. © The Author(s) 2014.

The Relationship between Food Insecurity and Esophageal and Gastric Cancers: A Case-Control Study.

PubMed

Daneshi-Maskooni, Milad; Badri-Fariman, Mahtab; Habibi, Nahal; Dorosty-Motlagh, Ahmadreza; Yavari, Hashem; Kashani, Arvin; Hosseini, Mostafa

2017-06-14

Food insecurity is defined as the limited or uncertain availability of enough food for permanent active and healthy life. Upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancers (esophagus and stomach) are one of five most common cancers in Iran. This study aimed to determine the association of food insecurity and upper GI cancers in newly diagnosed patients. Case-control study. Overall, 120 patients with upper GI cancers as cases and 120 patients with orthopedic, ear-nose-throat (ENT), and neurologic diseases as controls were recruited from Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran in 2013. The patients were newly diagnosed using endoscopy or imaging or biopsy methods. They were individually matched for age, sex, and residential area. The general and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) household food security questionnaires were completed. The univariate and multivariate conditional logistic regression tests were applied using the Stata 11SE statistical software. The food insecurity prevalence was 69.2% and 43.3% in cases and controls, respectively. Food insecurity, low economic level and family history of cancer were significantly associated with cancer (P<0.05). Food insecurity was one of the important risk factors for upper GI cancers that health care providers should consider it.

Investigation of Tropical Transport with UARS Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunkerton, Timothy J.

1999-01-01

Measurements of trace constituents obtained by instruments aboard the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) have been used to study transport processes associated with the quasi-biennial oscillation, laterally propagating Rossby waves, and upward propagating Kelvin waves in the tropical and subtropical upper troposphere and stratosphere. Mean vertical motions, vertical diffusivities and in-mixing rates were inferred from observations of the 'tape recorder' signal in near-equatorial stratospheric water vapor. The effect of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) on tracer distributions in the upper half of the stratosphere was seen in a spectacular 'staircase' pattern, predominantly in the winter hemisphere, revealing the latitudinally asymmetric nature of QBO transport due to induced mean meridional circulations and modulation of lateral mixing associated with planetary Rossby waves. The propagation of Rossby waves across the equator in the westerly phase of the QBO was seen in tracer fields and corroborating United Kingdom Meteorological Office (UKMO) analyses; a modeling study of the effect of these waves on typical QBO wind profiles was performed. Water vapor in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere was found to exhibit signatures of the tropical intraseasonal oscillation (TIO) and faster Kelvin waves in the two regions, respectively.

A survey of major east coast snowstorms, 1960-1983. Part 2. Summary of surface and upperlevel characteristics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kocin, P. J.; Uccellini, L. W.

1985-01-01

Surface and upper-level characteristics of selected meteorological fields are summarized. Two major types of sea level development are described and applied to the cases at hand, with a few storm systems showing characteristics of both types. Aspects such as rapid sea level deepening, coastal frontogenesis, cold air damming, low level jet formation, the development of an S-shaped isotherm pattern, diffluence downwind of a negatively tilted upper level trough axis, upper level confluence and an increase of geopotential heights at the base of the upper level trough characterized the pre-cyclogenetic and cyclogenetic periods of many of the storm systems. Large variability was also observed, especially with regard to the spatial dimensions of the surface and upper level systems, as well as variations in trough/ridge amplification and the evolution of upper level jet streak systems. The influence of transverse circulations associated with a confluent jet streak entrance region and the diffluent exit region of a jet streak/trough system on the production of snowfall is also discussed.

Diet of upper paleolithic modern humans: evidence from microwear texture analysis.

PubMed

El Zaatari, Sireen; Hublin, Jean-Jacques

2014-04-01

This article presents the results of the occlusal molar microwear texture analysis of 32 adult Upper Paleolithic modern humans from a total of 21 European sites dating to marine isotope stages 3 and 2. The occlusal molar microwear textures of these specimens were analyzed with the aim of examining the effects of the climatic, as well as the cultural, changes on the diets of the Upper Paleolithic modern humans. The results of this analysis do not reveal any environmentally driven dietary shifts for the Upper Paleolithic hominins indicating that the climatic and their associated paleoecological changes did not force these humans to significantly alter their diets in order to survive. However, the microwear texture analysis does detect culturally related changes in the Upper Paleolithic humans' diets. Specifically, significant differences in diet were found between the earlier Upper Paleolithic individuals, i.e., those belonging to the Aurignacian and Gravettian contexts, and the later Magdalenian ones, such that the diet of the latter group was more varied and included more abrasive foods compared with those of the former. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Design and preliminary evaluation of an exoskeleton for upper limb resistance training

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Tzong-Ming; Chen, Dar-Zen

2012-06-01

Resistance training is a popular form of exercise recommended by national health organizations, such as the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association (AHA). This form of training is available for most populations. A compact design of upper limb exoskeleton mechanism for homebased resistance training using a spring-loaded upper limb exoskeleton with a three degree-of-freedom shoulder joint and a one degree-of-freedom elbow joint allows a patient or a healthy individual to move the upper limb with multiple joints in different planes. It can continuously increase the resistance by adjusting the spring length to train additional muscle groups and reduce the number of potential injuries to upper limb joints caused by the mass moment of inertia of the training equipment. The aim of this research is to perform a preliminary evaluation of the designed function by adopting an appropriate motion analysis system and experimental design to verify our prototype of the exoskeleton and determine the optimal configuration of the spring-loaded upper limb exoskeleton.

An observational European study on clinical outcomes associated with current management strategies for non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (ENERGIB-Turkey).

PubMed

Mungan, Zeynel

2012-01-01

This observational, retrospective cohort study assessed outcomes of the current management strategies for nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding in several European countries (Belgium, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey) (NCT00797641; ENERGIB). Turkey contributed 23 sites to this study. Adult patients (≥18 years old) consecutively admitted to hospital and who underwent endoscopy for overt non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (hematemesis, melena or hematochezia, with other clinical/laboratory evidence of acute upper GI blood loss) were included in the study. Data were collected from patient medical records regarding bleeding continuation, re-bleeding, pharmacological treatment, surgery, and mortality during a 30-day follow-up period. A total of 423 patients (67.4% men; mean age: 57.8 ± 18.9 years) were enrolled in the Turkish study centers, of whom 96.2% were admitted to hospital with acute non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. At admission, the most common symptom was melena (76.1%); 28.6% of patients were taking aspirin, 19.9% were on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and 7.3% were on proton pump inhibitors. The most common diagnoses were duodenal (45.2%) and gastric (27.7%) ulcers and gastritis/gastric erosions (26.2%). Patients were most often managed in general medical wards (45.4%). A gastrointestinal team was in charge of treatment in 64.8% of cases. Therapeutic procedures were performed in 32.4% of patients during endoscopy. After the endoscopy, most patients (94.6%) received proton pump inhibitors. Mean (SD) hospital stay was 5.36 ± 4.91 days. The cumulative proportions of continued bleeding/re-bleeding, complications and mortality within 30 days of the non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding episode were 9.0%, 5.7% and 2.8%, respectively. In the Turkish sub-group of patients, the significant risk factors for bleeding continuation or re-bleeding were age >65 years, presentation with hematemesis or shock/syncope, and the diagnosis of duodenal ulcer. The risk of clinical complications after non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding was higher in female patients older than 65 years, in patients with comorbidities, and in patients presenting with shock/syncope, and also according to time to endoscopy. The use of aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or warfarin at baseline was negatively associated with the development of bleeding or clinical complications. The risk of death within 30 days after non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding was significantly higher in patients older than 65 years and in those receiving transfusions other than intravenous fluid or red blood cells within 12 hours of presentation. According to the survey results, non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding in Turkey varies from that in other European countries in a number of aspects. These differences could be associated with a younger population and Helicobacter pylori incidence. Despite the diminishing need for surgical intervention and mortality rates for non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding, as is the case in other European countries, non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding remains a serious problem.

Hypnosis and upper digestive function and disease

PubMed Central

Chiarioni, Giuseppe; Palsson, Olafur S; Whitehead, William E

2008-01-01

Hypnosis is a therapeutic technique that primarily involves attentive receptive concentration. Even though a small number of health professionals are trained in hypnosis and lingering myths and misconceptions associated with this method have hampered its widespread use to treat medical conditions, hypnotherapy has gained relevance as an effective treatment for irritable bowel syndrome not responsive to standard care. More recently, a few studies have addressed the potential influence of hypnosis on upper digestive function and disease. This paper reviews the efficacy of hypnosis in the modulation of upper digestive motor and secretory function. The present evidence of the effectiveness of hypnotherapy as a treatment for functional and organic diseases of the upper bowel is also summarized, coupled with a discussion of potential mechanisms of its therapeutic action. PMID:19009639

Association between anthropometric measures of obesity and subclinical atherosclerosis in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Ge, Wenzhen; Parvez, Faruque; Wu, Fen; Islam, Tariqul; Ahmed, Alauddin; Shaheen, Ishrat; Sarwar, Golam; Demmer, Ryan T; Desvarieux, Moise; Ahsan, Habibul; Chen, Yu

2014-01-01

Anthropometric measures such as waist-hip-ratio (WHR), waist-height-ratio (WHtR), waist circumference, Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and upper thigh circumference, have been linked to the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, their relationships with subclinical atherosclerosis are unclear. Studies in normal-weight populations, especially in Asian countries where leanness is prevalent, are lacking. We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the associations of WHR, WHtR, waist circumference, hip circumference, body mass index (BMI), MUAC and upper thigh circumference with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) among 562 middle-aged participants free of CVD in rural Bangladesh. After adjusting for age and sex, WHR and waist circumference but not BMI showed a positive significant association with cIMT. In multivariate analysis, each standard deviation (SD) increase of WHR (0.08) or WHtR (0.07) was associated with an 8.96 μm (95% CI, 1.12-16.81) or 11.45 μm (95%CI, 0.86-22.04) difference in cIMT, respectively, after controlling for age, sex, BMI, smoking status, education level, and systolic blood pressure (SBP). The associations of WHR and WHtR with cIMT were independent of the influence of other anthropometric measures. The associations of other anthropometric measures and cIMT were not apparent. In our relatively lean, healthy Asian population, WHR and WHtR appear to be better predictors of early atherosclerosis than other common surrogates of adiposity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rate of muscle contraction is associated with cognition in women, not in men.

PubMed

Tian, Qu; Osawa, Yusuke; Resnick, Susan M; Ferrucci, Luigi; Studenski, Stephanie A

2018-05-08

In older persons, lower hand grip strength is associated with poorer cognition. Little is known about how the rate of muscle contraction relates to cognition and upper extremity motor function, and sex differences are understudied. Linear regression, adjusting for age, race, education, body mass index, appendicular lean mass, and knee pain assessed sex-specific cross-sectional associations of peak torque, rate of torque development (RTD) and rate of velocity development (RVD) with cognition and upper extremity motor function. In men (n=447), higher rate-adjusted peak torque and a greater RVD were associated with faster simple finger tapping speed, and a greater RVD was associated with higher nondominant pegboard performance. In women (n=447), higher peak torque was not associated with any measures, but a greater RTD was associated with faster simple tapping speed and higher language performance, and a greater RVD was associated with higher executive function, attention, memory, and nondominant pegboard performance. In women with low isokinetic peak torque, RVD was associated with attention and memory. RVD capacity may reflect neural health, especially in women with low muscle strength.

The relationship between independent transfer skills and upper limb kinetics in wheelchair users.

PubMed

Tsai, Chung-Ying; Hogaboom, Nathan S; Boninger, Michael L; Koontz, Alicia M

2014-01-01

Transfers are one of the most physically demanding wheelchair activities. The purpose of this study was to determine if using proper transfer skills as measured by the Transfer Assessment Instrument (TAI) is associated with reduced loading on the upper extremities. Twenty-three wheelchair users performed transfers to a level-height bench while a series of forces plates, load cells, and a motion capture system recorded the biomechanics of their natural transferring techniques. Their transfer skills were simultaneously evaluated by two study clinicians using the TAI. Logistic regression and multiple linear regression models were used to determine the relationships between TAI scores and the kinetic variables on both arms across all joints. The results showed that the TAI measured transfer skills were closely associated with the magnitude and timing of joint moments (P < .02, model R(2) values ranged from 0.27 to 0.79). Proper completion of the skills which targeted the trailing arm was associated with lower average resultant moments and rates of rise of resultant moments at the trailing shoulder and/or elbow. Some skills involving the leading side had the effect of increasing the magnitude or rate loading on the leading side. Knowledge of the kinetic outcomes associated with each skill may help users to achieve the best load-relieving effects for their upper extremities.

Protons pump inhibitor treatment and lower gastrointestinal bleeding: Balancing risks and benefits.

PubMed

Lué, Alberto; Lanas, Angel

2016-12-28

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) represent a milestone in the treatment of acid-related diseases, and are the mainstay in preventing upper gastrointestinal bleeding in high-risk patients treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or low-dose aspirin. However, this beneficial effect does not extend to the lower gastrointestinal tract. PPIs do not prevent NSAID or aspirin-associated lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGB). PPIs may increase both small bowel injury related to NSAIDs and low-dose aspirin treatment and the risk of LGB. Recent studies suggested that altering intestinal microbiota by PPIs may be involved in the pathogenesis of NSAID-enteropathy. An increase in LGB hospitalization rates may occur more frequently in older patients with more comorbidities and are associated with high hospital resource utilization, longer hospitalization, and increased mortality. Preventive strategies for NSAID and aspirin-associated gastrointestinal bleeding should be directed toward preventing both upper and lower gastrointestinal damage. Future research should be directed toward identifying patients at low-risk for gastrointestinal events associated with the use of NSAIDs or aspirin to avoid inappropriate PPI prescribing. Alternatively, the efficacy of new pharmacologic strategies should be evaluated in high-risk groups, with the aim of reducing the risk of both upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding in these patients.

[Late complications of liver cirrhosis - management of gastrointestinal bleeding in the presence of portal hypertension].

PubMed

Hejda, Václav

Cirrhosis is the end stage of progressive development of different liver diseases and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality rates. Cirrhosis is associated with a number of potential complications, in particular with development of portal hypertension. Portal hypertension with the production of ascites, hepatic and gastric varices bleeding in the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract, presents the breakpoint in the natural course of cirrhosis, and it is associated with a considerably worse prognosis of patients, with a dramatically increased risk of mortality. A major progress was reached during the past 10-20 years in diagnosing liver cirrhosis (including non-invasive methods), in primary prevention of the initial episode of upper gastrointestinal bleeding and in the therapy of acute bleeding due to modern pharmacotherapy, with regard to expanding possibilities of therapeutic endoscopy and relatively new options for management of acute bleeding (esophageal stents, TIPS and suchlike). However acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding associated with portal hypertension still presents a considerable risk of premature death (15-20 %). Early diagnosing and causal treatment of numerous liver diseases may lead to slowing or regression of fibrosis and cirrhosis and possibly even of the degree of portal hypertension and thereby also the risk of bleeding.Key words: cirrhosis - esophageal varices - treatment of bleeding - portal hypertension.

Associations between timing in the baseball pitch and shoulder kinetics, elbow kinetics, and ball speed.

PubMed

Urbin, M A; Fleisig, Glenn S; Abebe, Asheber; Andrews, James R

2013-02-01

A baseball pitcher's ability to maximize ball speed while avoiding shoulder and elbow injuries is an important determinant of a successful career. Pitching injuries are attributed to microtrauma brought about by the repetitive stress of high-magnitude shoulder and elbow kinetics. Over a number of pitches, variations in timing peak angular velocities of trunk segment rotations will be significantly associated with ball speed and upper extremity kinetic parameters. Descriptive laboratory study. Kinematic and kinetic data were derived from 9 to 15 fastball pitches performed by 16 active, healthy collegiate (n = 8) and professional (n = 8) pitchers via 3-dimensional motion capture (240 Hz). Each pitch was decomposed into 4 phases corresponding to the time between peak angular velocities of sequential body segment rotations. Four mixed models were used to evaluate which phases varied significantly in relation to ball speed, peak shoulder proximal force, peak shoulder internal rotation torque, and peak elbow varus torque. Mixed-model parameter coefficient estimates were used to quantify the influence of these variations in timing on ball speed and upper extremity kinetics. All 4 mixed models were significant (P < .05). The time from stride-foot contact to peak pelvis angular velocity varied significantly in relation to all upper extremity kinetic parameters and ball speed. Increased time in this phase correlated with decreases in all parameters. Decreased ball speed also correlated with increased time between peak upper torso and elbow extension angular velocities. Decreased shoulder proximal force also correlated with increased time between peak pelvis and upper torso angular velocities. There are specific phases that vary in relation to ball speed and upper extremity kinetic parameters, reinforcing the importance of effectively and consistently timing segmental interactions. For the specific interactions that varied significantly, increased phase times were associated with decreased kinetics and ball speed. Although increased time within specific phases correlates with decreases in the magnitude of upper extremity kinetics linked to overuse injuries, it also correlates with decreased ball speed. Based on these findings, it may appear that minimizing the risk of injury (ie, decreased kinetics) and maximizing performance quality (ie, increased ball speed) are incompatible with one another. However, there may be an optimal balance in timing that is effective for satisfying both outcomes.

The geochemistry of oils and gases from the Cumberland overthrust sheet in Virginia and Tennessee: Chapter G.12 in Coal and petroleum resources in the Appalachian basin: distribution, geologic framework, and geochemical character

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dennen, Kristen O.; Deering, Mark; Burruss, Robert A.; Ruppert, Leslie F.; Ryder, Robert T.

2014-01-01

This study presents high-resolution gas chromatograms of oils and molecular and isotopic analyses of oil-associated gases from 17 wells producing in the Upper Cambrian to Lower Ordovician Knox Group, the Middle and Upper Ordovician Stones River Group, and the Upper Ordovician Trenton Limestone in the Cumberland overthrust sheet. The wells are located in the Ben Hur and Rose Hill fields in Lee County, Va., and in the Swan Creek field in Hancock and Claiborne Counties, Tenn. They produce oils typical of those from source rocks that are rich in Gloeocapsomorpha prisca (G. prisca) (Assemblage A-type kerogen). The Rose Hill oils appear to come from a source that contains a higher proportion of Assemblage A-type kerogen than the Ben Hur and Swan Creek oils. Extrapolation of the δ13C compositions of oil-associated gases to possible kerogen compositions gives estimates of -23 to -24 per mil within the range of isotopic compositions of known G. prisca source material. Gases produced from the Knox Group wells in the Swan Creek field are different from those in the Middle and Upper Ordovician reservoirs and come from a source with a broader range of isotopic values. Trends in isotopic and gasoline-range compositional parameters of the oils and associated gas isotopic and molecular compositions are most likely influenced by changes in local source depositional facies.

Computer users' postures and associations with workstation characteristics.

PubMed

Gerr, F; Marcus, M; Ortiz, D; White, B; Jones, W; Cohen, S; Gentry, E; Edwards, A; Bauer, E

2000-01-01

This investigation tested the hypotheses that (1) physical workstation dimensions are important determinants of operator posture, (2) specific workstation characteristics systematically affect worker posture, and (3) computer operators assume "neutral" upper limb postures while keying. Operator head, neck, and upper extremity posture and selected workstation dimensions and characteristics were measured among 379 computer users. Operator postures were measured with manual goniometers, workstation characteristics were evaluated by observation, and workstation dimensions by direct measurement. Considerably greater variability in all postures was observed than was expected from application of basic geometric principles to measured workstation dimensions. Few strong correlations were observed between worker posture and workstation physical dimensions; findings suggest that preference is given to keyboard placement with respect to the eyes (r = 0.60 for association between keyboard height and seated elbow height) compared with monitor placement with respect to the eyes (r = 0.18 for association between monitor height and seated eye height). Wrist extension was weakly correlated with keyboard height (r = -0.24) and virtually not at all with keyboard thickness (r = 0.07). Use of a wrist rest was associated with decreased wrist flexion (21.9 versus 25.1 degrees, p < 0.01). Participants who had easily adjustable chairs had essentially the same neck and upper limb postures as did those with nonadjustable chairs. Sixty-one percent of computer operators were observed in nonneutral shoulder postures and 41% in nonneutral wrist postures. Findings suggest that (1) workstation dimensions are not strong determinants of at least several neck and upper extremity postures among computer operators, (2) only some workstation characteristics affect posture, and (3) contrary to common recommendations, a large proportion of computer users do not work in so-called neutral postures.

Motor and Sensory Cortical Changes after Contralateral Cervical Seventh Nerve Root (CC7) Transfer in Patients with Brachial Plexus Injuries.

PubMed

Kakinoki, Ryosuke; Duncan, Scott F M; Ikeguchi, Ryosuke; Ohta, Souichi; Nankaku, Manabu; Sakai, Hiroshi; Noguchi, Takashi; Kaizawa, Yukitoshi; Akagi, Masao

2017-06-01

Previous animal studies demonstrated that the sensory and motor functions in ipsilesional upper limbs that had been reconstructed by CC7 transfer eventually associated with the contralesional brain cortices that had originally mediated the functions of the ipsilesional upper limbs before brachial plexus injury (BPI). Our hypothesis was that the same findings would be seen in humans. Four patients with total BPI treated with CC7 transfer were included. Changes in the locations of the activated areas in the primary motor (M1) and somatosensory (S1) cortices corresponding to the motor outputs to and sensory inputs from the ipsilesional limbs were investigated using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) 2-3 years and 6-7 years after surgery. One patient was excluded from the evaluation of motor function after CC7 transfer. The motor and sensory functions of the ipsilesional upper limb in all patients were still controlled by the ipsilesional brain hemisphere 2-3 years after CC7 transfer. The reconstructed motions of the ipsilesional upper limbs correlated with the contralesional M1 in one patient and the bilateral M1s in another patient (both of whom demonstrated good motor recovery in the ipsilesional upper limbs) and with the ipsilesional M1 in a third patient with poor motor recovery in the ipsilesional upper limb. Sensory stimulation of the ipsilesional hands 6-7 years after CC7 transfer activated the contralesional S1 in two patients who achieved good sensory recovery in the ipsilesional hands but activated the ipsilesional S1 in the other two patients with poor sensory recovery of the ipsilesional hands. Transhemispheric transposition of the activated brain cortices associated with the recovery of motor and sensory functions of the ipsilesional upper limbs was seen in patients with CC7 transfer as has been reported for animal models of CC7 transfer.

Mechanical Evolution and Dynamics of Decollement Slip in Contractional Systems: Correlating Macro- and Micro-Scale Processes in Particle Dynamics Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, J. K.

2014-12-01

Particle-based numerical simulations allow detailed investigations of small-scale processes and mechanisms associated with fault initiation and slip, which emerge naturally in such models. This study investigates the evolving mechanical conditions and associated micro-mechanisms during transient slip on a weak decollement propagating beneath a growing contractional wedge (e.g., accretionary prism, fold and thrust belt). The models serve as analogs of the seismic cycle, although lacking full earthquake dynamics. Nonetheless, the mechanical evolution of both decollement and upper plate can be monitored, and correlated with the particle-scale physical and contact properties, providing insights into changes that accompany such stick-slip behavior. In this study, particle assemblages consolidated under gravity and bonded to impart cohesion, are pushed at a constant velocity above a weak, unbonded decollement surface. Forward propagation of decollement slip occurs in discrete pulses, modulated by heterogeneous stress conditions (e.g., roughness, contact bridging) along the fault. Passage of decollement slip resets the stress along this horizon, producing distinct patterns: shear stress is enhanced in front of the slipped decollement due to local contact bridging and fault locking; shear stress minima occur immediately above the tip, denoting local stress release and contact reorganization following slip; more mature portions of the fault exhibit intermediate shear stress, reflecting more stable contact force distributions and magnitudes. This pattern of shear stress pre-conditions the decollement for future slip events, which must overcome the high stresses at the fault tip. Long-term slip along the basal decollement induces upper plate contraction. When upper plate stresses reach critical strength conditions, new thrust faults break through the upper plate, relieving stresses and accommodating horizontal shortening. Decollement activity retreats back to the newly formed thrust fault. The cessation of upper plate fault slip causes gradual increases in upper plate stresses, rebuilding shear stresses along the decollement and enabling renewed pulses of decollement slip. Thus, upper plate deformation occurs out of phase with decollement propagation.

Predicting the Occurrence of Hypotension in Stable Patients With Nonvariceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding: Point-of-Care Lactate Testing.

PubMed

Ko, Byuk Sung; Kim, Won Young; Ryoo, Seung Mok; Ahn, Shin; Sohn, Chang Hwan; Seo, Dong Woo; Lee, Yoon-Seon; Lim, Kyoung Soo; Jung, Hwoon-Yong

2015-11-01

It is difficult to assess risk in normotensive patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the initial lactate value can predict the in-hospital occurrence of hypotension in stable patients with acute nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Retrospective, observational, single-center study. Emergency department of a tertiary-care, university-affiliated hospital during a 5-year period. Medical records of 3,489 patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding who were normotensive at presentation to the emergency department. We analyzed the ability of point-of-care testing of lactate at emergency department admission to predict hypotension development (defined as systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg) within 24 hours after emergency department admission. None. Of the 1,003 patients with acute nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding, 157 patients experienced hypotension within 24 hours. Lactate was independently associated with hypotension development (odds ratio, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.4-1.7), and the risk of hypotension significantly increased as the lactate increased from 2.5-4.9 mmol/L (odds ratio, 2.2) to 5.0-7.4 mmol/L (odds ratio, 4.0) and to greater than or equal to 7.5 mmol/L (odds ratio, 39.2) (p<0.001). Lactate elevation (≥2.5 mmol/L) was associated with 90% specificity and an 84% negative predictive value for hypotension development. When the lactate levels were greater than 5.0 mmol/L, the specificity and negative predictive value increased to 98% and 87%, respectively. Point-of-care testing of lactate can predict in-hospital occurrence of hypotension in stable patients with acute nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. However, subsequently, prospective validate research will be required to clarify this.

A study of clinical and endoscopic profile of acute upper, gastrointestinal bleeding.

PubMed

Dewan, K R; Patowary, B S; Bhattarai, S

2014-01-01

Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding is a common medical emergency with a hospital mortality of approximately 10 percent. Higher mortality rate is associated with rebleeding. Rockall scoring system identifies patients at higher risk of rebleed and mortality. To study the clinical and endoscopic profile of acute upper gastrointestinal bleed to know the etiology, clinical presentation, severity of bleeding and outcome. This is a prospective, descriptive hospital based study conducted in Gastroenterology unit of College of Medical Sciences and Teaching Hospital, Bharatpur, Nepal from January 2012 to January 2013. It included 120 patients at random presenting with manifestations of upper gastrointestinal bleed. Their clinical and endoscopic profiles were studied. Rockall scoring system was used to assess their prognosis. Males were predominant (75%). Age ranged from 14 to 88 years, mean being 48.76+17.19. At presentation 86 patients (71.7%) had both hematemesis and malena, 24 patients (20%) had only malena and 10 patients (8.3%) had only hematemesis. Shock was detected in 21.7%, severe anemia and high blood urea were found in 34.2% and 38.3% respectively. Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding endoscopy revealed esophageal varices (47.5%), peptic ulcer disease (33.3%), erosive mucosal disease (11.6%), Mallory Weiss tear (4.1%) and malignancy (3.3%). Median hospital stay was 7.28+3.18 days. Comorbidities were present in 43.3%. Eighty six patients (71.7%) had Rockall score < 5 and 34 (28.3%) had >6. Five patients (4.2%) expired. Risk factors for death being massive rebleeeding, comorbidities and Rockall score >6. Acute Upper Gastrointestinal bleeding is a medical emergency. Mortality is associated with massive bleeding, comorbidities and Rockall score >6. Urgent, appropriate hospital management definitely helps to reduce morbidity and mortality.

Development of upper tract stones in patients with congenital neurogenic bladder.

PubMed

Stephany, Heidi A; Clayton, Douglass B; Tanaka, Stacy T; Thomas, John C; Pope, John C; Brock, John W; Adams, Mark C

2014-02-01

Patients with neurogenic bladder are at increased risk of developing upper tract stones. We hypothesized that patients with lower urinary tract stone disease are at greater risk of developing upper tract stones. We performed a 10-year retrospective case-control study of patients with neurogenic bladder to determine the association between bladder and upper tract stones. Independent risk factors for upper tract stones were assessed. Cases and controls were matched 1:1. Univariable analysis was performed by Fisher's exact test and the Mann-Whitney U test. Multivariable logistic regression was performed. 52 cases and controls were identified. Cases were significantly more likely to be non-ambulatory, have bowel-urinary tract interposition, thoracic level dysraphism, and history of bladder stones. On multivariable analysis, independent predictors of stone formation were male sex (OR 2.82; p = 0.02), dysraphism involving the thoracic spine (OR 3.37; p = 0.014) bowel-urinary tract interposition (OR 2.611; p = 0.038), and a history of bladder stones (OR 3.57; p = 0.015). Patients with neurogenic bladder are at increased risk for upper tract stones. The presence of bladder stones may herald the development of upper tract stones. The predictors of stone disease identified should guide prospective studies to better understand the natural history of upper tract stone development in this population. Copyright © 2013 Journal of Pediatric Urology Company. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Musculoskeletal symptoms and associated risk factors among office workers with high workload computer use.

PubMed

Cho, Chiung-Yu; Hwang, Yea-Shwu; Cherng, Rong-Ju

2012-09-01

Although the prevalence of reported discomfort by computer workers is high, the impact of high computer workload on musculoskeletal symptoms remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms for office workers with high computer workload. The association between risk factors and musculoskeletal symptoms was also assessed. Two questionnaires were posted on the Web sites of 3 companies and 1 university to recruit computer users in Tainan, Taiwan, during May to July 2009. The 12-item Chinese Health Questionnaire and Musculoskeletal Symptom Questionnaire were chosen as the evaluation tools for musculoskeletal symptoms and its associated risk factors. Chinese Health Questionnaire greater than 5 and computer usage greater than 7 h/d were used to as the cutoff line to divide groups. Descriptive statistics were computed for mean values and frequencies. χ(2) Analysis was used to determine significant differences between groups. A 0.05 level of significance of was used for statistical comparisons. A total of 254 subjects returned the questionnaire, of which 203 met the inclusion criteria. The 3 leading regions of musculoskeletal symptoms among the computer users were the shoulder (73%), neck (71%), and upper back (60%) areas. Similarly, the 3 leading regions of musculoskeletal symptoms among the computer users with high workload were shoulder (77.3%), neck (75.6%), and upper back (63.9%) regions. High psychologic distress was significantly associated with shoulder and upper back complaints (odds ratio [OR], 3.46; OR, 2.24), whereas a high workload was significantly associated with lower back complaints (OR, 1.89). Females were more likely to report shoulder complaints (OR, 2.25). This study found that high psychologic distress was significantly associated with shoulder and upper back pain, whereas high workload was associated with lower back pain. Women tended to have a greater risk of shoulder complaints than men. Developing an intervention that addresses both physical and psychologic problems is important for future studies. Copyright © 2012 National University of Health Sciences. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Modified Full Thickness Graded Blepharotomy for Upper Eyelid Retraction Associated With Thyroid Eye Disease in East Asians.

PubMed

Lee, Joonsik; Lee, Hwa; Park, Minsoo; Baek, Sehyun

2016-12-01

To evaluate the functional and cosmetic outcomes of modified full thickness graded blepharotomy when used for East Asian patients with upper eyelid retraction of thyroid eye disease (TED). Medical records of each patient who underwent modified full-thickness blepharotomy at Korea University Guro Hospitals from January 2009 to February 2014 to correct upper eyelid retraction resulting from TED were retrospectively reviewed. Modified full-thickness graded blepharotomies were performed on 22 eyelids of 18 patients. The most common preoperative upper eyelid retraction-associated symptom was asymmetry of the upper eyelid (14 patients, 77.7%) followed by discomfort (10 patients, 55.5%), photophobia (5 patients, 27.7%), and epiphora (4 patients, 22.2%). Most preoperative symptoms improved after blepharotomy (Table 1). Preoperatively, upper eyelid retraction (MRD1; midpupil marginal reflex distance) ranged from 2.3 mm to 6.8 mm (mean, 5.23 ± 0.89) in 22 lids; postoperatively, lid retraction significantly decreased to 3.26 ± 1.23 mm (P = 0.03 by independent t test) (Table 2). Lid retraction was divided into 3 groups according to severity; a severe group (5 eyelids, 27.7%), a moderate group (14 eyelids, 63.6%), and a mild group (3 eyelids, 13.6%). The MRD1 improved regardless of severity (P = 0.03 in the severe group, P = 0.02 in the moderate group, and P = 0.04 in the mild group by independent t test). The MRD1 improvement did not differ significantly among groups (P = 0.08 by Pearson χ t test). At 6 months postoperatively, the midpupil marginal reflex distance was the perfect height in 13 of 22 lids (59.0%), with a mean reduction of 3 mm, whereas 7 of 22 eyelids (31.8%) were at acceptable height and 2 eyelids (9.0%) showed failure. Overall, 18 eyelids (90.9%) exhibited objectively satisfactory results (perfect or acceptable) at 6 months after surgery (Table 3). Modified graded full thickness eyelid blepharotomy is a reliable and safe method for upper eyelid lengthening for East Asian patients with upper eyelid retraction of TED that offers excellent functional and cosmetic results.

Physics and the Possibility of a Religious View of the Universe: Swedish Upper Secondary Students' Views

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hansson, Lena; Redfors, Andreas

2007-01-01

This study is addressing both upper secondary students' views of whether it is possible to combine a scientific view of the universe with a religious conviction, and their views of miracles. Students are asked about their own views as well as the views they associate with physics. The study shows that in some cases the students' own views differ…

SST Control by Subsurface Mixing During Indian Ocean Monsoons

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

1 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. SST Control by Subsurface Mixing during Indian Ocean ...quantify the variability in upper ocean mixing associated with changes in barrier layer thickness and strength across the BoB and under different...These objectives directly target the fundamental role that upper ocean dynamics play in the complex air-sea interactions of the northern Indian Ocean

Enhancement in the upper tropospheric humidity associated with aerosol loading over tropical Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kottayil, Ajil; Satheesan, K.

2015-12-01

Many modeling studies have indicated that aerosol interactions with clouds increase the upper tropospheric humidity (UTH), but observational evidences are sparse. Using satellite datasets of upper tropospheric humidity and aerosols, this study shows that aerosols increase the upper tropospheric humidity over the tropical North West Pacific (NWP) and North East Pacific (NEP). The observations show an increase in the UTH by 2.8%RH over NEP for an increment of 0.12 in aerosol optical depth (AOD) and 2%RH increase in UTH over NWP for an increment of 0.19 in AOD. The study also quantifies the change in longwave cloud radiative forcing (LWCRF) as a consequence of the increase in UTH due to aerosols. The LWCRF increases by 3.38 W m-2 over NEP and by 4.46 W m-2 over NWP. The result that aerosols increase the upper tropospheric humidity is significant since the latter plays a crucial role in regulating the Earth's radiation budget and water vapor feedback.

Upper mantle structure at Walvis Ridge from Pn tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryberg, Trond; Braeuer, Benjamin; Weber, Michael

2017-10-01

Passive continental margins offer the unique opportunity to study the processes involved in continental extension and break-up. Within the LISPWAL (LIthospheric Structure of the Namibian continental Passive margin at the intersection with the Walvis Ridge from amphibious seismic investigations) project, combined on- and offshore seismic experiments were designed to characterize the Southern African passive margin at the Walvis Ridge in northern Namibia. In addition to extensive analysis of the crustal structures, we carried out seismic investigations targeting the velocity structure of the upper mantle in the landfall region of the Walvis Ridge with the Namibian coast. Upper mantle Pn travel time tomography from controlled source, amphibious seismic data was used to investigate the sub-Moho upper mantle seismic velocity. We succeeded in imaging upper mantle structures potentially associated with continental break-up and/or the Tristan da Cunha hotspot track. We found mostly coast-parallel sub-Moho velocity anomalies, interpreted as structures which were created during Gondwana break-up.

Thirty-Day Readmission Among Patients With Non-variceal Upper Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage and Effects on Outcomes.

PubMed

Abougergi, Marwan S; Peluso, Heather; Saltzman, John R

2018-03-28

We aimed to determine the rate of hospital readmission within 30 days of non-variceal upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage and its impact on mortality, morbidity, and health care use in the United States. We performed a retrospective study using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Readmission Database for the year 2014 (data on 14.9 million hospital stays at 2048 hospitals in 22 states). We collected data on hospital readmissions of 203,220 adults who were hospitalized for urgent non-variceal upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage and discharged. The primary outcome was rate of all-cause readmission within 30 days of discharge. Secondary outcomes were reasons for readmission, readmission mortality rate, morbidity (shock and prolonged mechanical ventilation) and resource use (length of stay and total hospitalization costs and charges). Independent risk factors for readmission were identified using Cox regression analysis. The 30-day rate of readmission was 13%. Only 18% of readmissions were due to recurrent non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The rate of death among patients readmitted to the hospital (4.7%) was higher than that for index admissions (1.9%) (P < .01). A higher proportion of readmitted patients had morbidities requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation (1.5%) compared with index admissions (0.8%) (P < .01). A total of 133,368 hospital days was associated with readmission, and the total health care in-hospital economic burden was $30.3 million (in costs) and $108 million (in charges). Independent predictors of readmission were Medicaid insurance, higher Charlson comorbidity score, lower income, residence in a metropolitan area, hemorrhagic shock, and longer stays in the hospital. Older age, private or no insurance, upper endoscopy, and prolonged mechanical ventilation were associated with lower odds for readmission. In a retrospective study of patients hospitalized for non-variceal upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage, 13% are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. Readmission is associated with higher mortality, morbidity, and resource use. Most readmissions are not for recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding. Copyright © 2018 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recent changes in the summer monsoon circulation and their impact on dynamics and thermodynamics of the Arabian Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pratik, Kad; Parekh, Anant; Karmakar, Ananya; Chowdary, Jasti S.; Gnanaseelan, C.

2018-05-01

The present study examines changes in the low-level summer monsoon circulation over the Arabian Sea and their impact on the ocean dynamics using reanalysis data. The study confirms intensification and northward migration of low-level jet during 1979 to 2015. Further during the study period, an increase in the Arabian Sea upper ocean heat content is found in spite of a decreasing trend in the net surface heat flux, indicating the possible role of ocean dynamics in the upper ocean warming. Increase in the anti-cyclonic wind stress curl associated with the change in the monsoon circulation induces downwelling over the central Arabian Sea, favoring upper ocean warming. The decreasing trend of southward Ekman transport, a mechanism transporting heat from the land-locked north Indian Ocean to southern latitudes, also supports increasing trend of the upper ocean heat content. To reinstate and quantify the role of changing monsoon circulation in increasing the heat content over the Arabian Sea, sensitivity experiment is carried out using ocean general circulation model. In this experiment, the model is forced by inter-annual momentum forcing while rest of the forcing is climatological. Experiment reveals that the changing monsoon circulation increases the upper ocean heat content, effectively by enhancing downwelling processes and reducing southward heat transport, which strongly endorses our hypothesis that changing ocean dynamics associated with low-level monsoon circulation is causing the increasing trend in the heat content of the Arabian Sea.

Incidence of upper limb venous thrombosis associated with peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC).

PubMed

Abdullah, B J J; Mohammad, N; Sangkar, J V; Abd Aziz, Y F; Gan, G G; Goh, K Y; Benedict, I

2005-07-01

The objective of this study was to prospectively determine the incidence of venous thrombosis (VT) in the upper limbs in patients with peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC). We prospectively investigated the incidence of VT in the upper limbs of 26 patients who had PICC inserted. The inclusion criteria were all patients who had a PICC inserted, whilst the exclusion criterion was the inability to perform a venogram (allergies, previous contrast medium reaction and inability of gaining venous access). Both valved and non-valved catheters were evaluated. Prior to removal of the PICC, an upper limb venogram was performed. The number of segments involved with VT were determined. The duration of central venous catheterization was classified as; less than 6 days, between 6 days and 14 days and more than 14 days. VT was confirmed in 38.5% (10/26) of the patients. The majority 85.7% (12/14) were complete occlusive thrombi and the majority of VT only involved one segment. There was no statistical correlation between the site of insertion of the PICC and the location of VT. Neither was there any observed correlation between the occurrence of VT with the patient's history of hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, cardiac insufficiency, smoking or cancer. There was also no statistical correlation with the size of the catheter. In conclusion, PICCs are associated with a significant risk of upper extremity deep vein thrombosis (UEVT).

Colonization of the lower urogenital tract with Ureaplasma parvum can cause asymptomatic infection of the upper reproductive system in women: a preliminary study.

PubMed

Kasprzykowska, Urszula; Elias, Joanna; Elias, Marek; Mączyńska, Beata; Sobieszczańska, Beata Magdalena

2014-05-01

Genital ureaplasmas are considered opportunistic pathogens of human genitourinary tract involved in adverse pregnancy sequelae and infertility. While association of Ureaplasma urealyticum with urogenital tract infections is well established, the role of Ureaplasma parvum in these infections is still insufficient. In the study, we compared how often cervicovaginal colonization with U. parvum is associated with the presence of these microorganisms in the upper genitourinary tract of fertile and infertile women. We used PCR assay to determine the prevalence of U. parvum and U. urealyticum in pairs of specimens, i.e., vaginal swabs and Douglas' pouch fluid samples from consecutive 40 women with no symptoms of genital tract infection. In total, 19 (47.5 %) of the 40 samples were positive for ureaplasmas. U. parvum was simultaneously detected in pairs of samples in five (55.5 %) of the nine (47.4 %) women positive in PCR assay. As many as 5 (18.5 %) of the 27 infertile women and 1 (7.7 %) of the 13 fertile women showed infection of the upper genital tract with U. parvum. The results of the study demonstrated that colonization of the lower genital tract with U. parvum can produce asymptomatic infection of the upper reproductive system in women. These findings also imply that U. parvum may be present in the upper genital tract at the time of conception and might be involved in adverse pregnancy outcomes.

C-reactive protein as a prognostic indicator for rebleeding in patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

PubMed

Lee, Han Hee; Park, Jae Myung; Lee, Soon-Wook; Kang, Seung Hun; Lim, Chul-Hyun; Cho, Yu Kyung; Lee, Bo-In; Lee, In Seok; Kim, Sang Woo; Choi, Myung-Gyu

2015-05-01

In patients with acute nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding, rebleeding after an initial treatment is observed in 10-20% and is associated with mortality. To investigate whether the initial serum C-reactive protein level could predict the risk of rebleeding in patients with acute nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. This was a retrospective study using prospectively collected data for upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Initial clinical characteristics, endoscopic features, and C-reactive protein levels were compared between those with and without 30-day rebleeding. A total of 453 patients were included (mean age, 62 years; male, 70.9%). The incidence of 30-day rebleeding was 15.9%. The mean serum C-reactive protein level was significantly higher in these patients than in those without rebleeding (P<0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve with a cutoff value of 0.5mg/dL was 0.689 (P<0.001). High serum C-reactive protein level (odds ratio, 2.98; confidence interval, 1.65-5.40) was independently associated with the 30-day rebleeding risk after adjustment for the main confounding risk factors, including age, blood pressure, and initial haemoglobin level. The serum C-reactive protein was an independent risk factor for 30-day rebleeding in patients with acute nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding, indicating a possible role as a useful screening indicator for predicting the risk of rebleeding. Copyright © 2015 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hemispheric differences in recognizing upper and lower facial displays of emotion.

PubMed

Prodan, C I; Orbelo, D M; Testa, J A; Ross, E D

2001-01-01

To determine if there are hemispheric differences in processing upper versus lower facial displays of emotion. Recent evidence suggests that there are two broad classes of emotions with differential hemispheric lateralization. Primary emotions (e.g. anger, fear) and associated displays are innate, are recognized across all cultures, and are thought to be modulated by the right hemisphere. Social emotions (e.g., guilt, jealousy) and associated "display rules" are learned during early child development, vary across cultures, and are thought to be modulated by the left hemisphere. Display rules are used by persons to alter, suppress or enhance primary emotional displays for social purposes. During deceitful behaviors, a subject's true emotional state is often leaked through upper rather than lower facial displays, giving rise to facial blends of emotion. We hypothesized that upper facial displays are processed preferentially by the right hemisphere, as part of the primary emotional system, while lower facial displays are processed preferentially by the left hemisphere, as part of the social emotional system. 30 strongly right-handed adult volunteers were tested tachistoscopically by randomly flashing facial displays of emotion to the right and left visual fields. The stimuli were line drawings of facial blends with different emotions displayed on the upper versus lower face. The subjects were tested under two conditions: 1) without instructions and 2) with instructions to attend to the upper face. Without instructions, the subjects robustly identified the emotion displayed on the lower face, regardless of visual field presentation. With instructions to attend to the upper face, for the left visual field they robustly identified the emotion displayed on the upper face. For the right visual field, they continued to identify the emotion displayed on the lower face, but to a lesser degree. Our results support the hypothesis that hemispheric differences exist in the ability to process upper versus lower facial displays of emotion. Attention appears to enhance the ability to explore these hemispheric differences under experimental conditions. Our data also support the recent observation that the right hemisphere has a greater ability to recognize deceitful behaviors compared with the left hemisphere. This may be attributable to the different roles the hemispheres play in modulating social versus primary emotions and related behaviors.

Prevalence and psychosocial risk factors of upper extremity musculoskeletal pain in industries of Taiwan: a nationwide study.

PubMed

Lee, Hsin-Yi; Yeh, Wen-Yu; Chen, Chun-Wan; Wang, Jung-Der

2005-07-01

Prevalence of upper extremity disorders and their associations with psychosocial factors in the workplace have received more attention recently. A national survey of cross-sectional design was performed to determine the prevalence rates of upper extremity disorders among different industries. Trained interviewers administered questionnaires to 17,669 workers and data on musculoskeletal complaints were obtained along with information on risk factors. Overall the 1-year prevalence of neck (14.8%), shoulder (16.6%), and hand (12.4%) disorders were higher than those of the upper back (7.1%) and elbow (8.3%) among those who sought medical treatment due to the complaint. Workers in construction and agriculture-related industries showed a higher prevalence of upper extremity disorders. After multiple logistic regression adjusted for age, education, and employment duration, we found job content, physical working condition, a harmonious interpersonal relationship at the workplace and organizational problems were significant determinants of upper extremity disorders in manufacturing and service industries. Male workers in manufacturing industries showed more concern about physical working conditions while female workers in public administration emphasized problems of job content and interpersonal relationships. We concluded that these factors were major job stressors contributing to musculoskeletal pain of the upper extremity.

Does "hidden undercuffing" occur among obese patients? Effect of arm sizes and other predictors of the difference between wrist and upper arm blood pressures.

PubMed

Doshi, Hardik; Weder, Alan B; Bard, Robert L; Brook, Robert D

2010-02-01

Arm size can affect the accuracy of blood pressure (BP) measurement, and "undercuffing" of large upper arms is likely to be a growing problem. Therefore, the authors investigated the relationship between upper arm and wrist readings. Upper arm and wrist circumferences and BP were measured in 261 consecutive patients. Upper arm auscultation and wrist BP was measured in triplicate, rotating measurements every 30 seconds between sites. Upper arm BP was 131.9+/-20.6/71.6+/-12.6 mm Hg in an obese population (body mass index, 30.6+/-6.6 kg/m(2)) with mean upper arm size of 30.7+/-5.1 cm. Wrist BP was higher (2.6+/-9.2 mm Hg and 4.9+/-6.6 mm Hg, respectively, P<.001); however, there was moderate concordance for the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) strata (kappa value=0.27-0.71), and the difference was >or=5 mm Hg in 72% of the patients. The authors conclude that there was poor concordance between arm and wrist BP measurement and found no evidence that "hidden undercuffing" was associated with obesity; therefore, they do not support routine use of wrist BP measurements.

Hypothyroidism and Mortality among Dialysis Patients

PubMed Central

Rhee, Connie M.; Alexander, Erik K.; Bhan, Ishir

2013-01-01

Summary Background and objectives Hypothyroidism is highly prevalent among ESRD patients, but its clinical significance and the benefits of thyroid hormone replacement in this context remain unclear. Design, setting, participants, & measurements This study examined the association between hypothyroidism and all-cause mortality among 2715 adult dialysis patients with baseline thyrotropin levels measured between April of 2005 and April of 2011. Mortality was ascertained from Social Security Death Master Index and local registration systems. The association between hypothyroidism (thyrotropin greater than assay upper limit normal) and mortality was estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. To reduce the risk of observing reverse-causal associations, models included a 30-day lag between thyrotropin measurement and at-risk time. Results Among 350 (12.9%) hypothyroid and 2365 (87.1%) euthyroid (assay within referent range) patients, 917 deaths were observed during 5352 patient-years of at-risk time. Hypothyroidism was associated with higher mortality. Compared with thyrotropin in the low-normal range (0.4–2.9 mIU/L), subclinical hypothyroidism (thyrotropin >upper limit normal and ≤10.0 mIU/L) was associated with higher mortality; high-normal thyrotropin (≥3.0 mIU/L and ≤upper limit normal) and overt hypothyroidism (thyrotropin >10.0 mIU/L) were associated with numerically greater risk, but estimates were not statistically significant. Compared with spontaneously euthyroid controls, patients who were euthyroid while on exogenous thyroid replacement were not at higher mortality risk, whereas patients who were hypothyroid were at higher mortality risk. Sensitivity analyses indicated that effects on cardiovascular risk factors may mediate the observed association between hypothyroidism and death. Conclusions These data suggest that hypothyroidism is associated with higher mortality in dialysis patients, which may be ameliorated by thyroid hormone replacement therapy. PMID:23258793

Association Between Early Life Growth and Blood Pressure Trajectories in Black South African Children.

PubMed

Kagura, Juliana; Adair, Linda S; Munthali, Richard J; Pettifor, John M; Norris, Shane A

2016-11-01

Early growth is associated with blood pressure measured on one occasion, but whether early life growth patterns are associated with longitudinal blood pressure trajectories is under-researched. Therefore, we sought to examine the association between early growth and blood pressure trajectories from childhood to adulthood. Blood pressure was measured on 7 occasions between ages 5 and 18 years in the Birth to Twenty cohort study, and conditional variables for growth in infancy and mid-childhood were computed from anthropometric measures (n=1937, 52% girls). We used a group-based trajectory modeling approach to identify distinct height-adjusted blood pressure trajectories and then tested their association with growth between birth and mid-childhood adjusting for several covariates. Three trajectory groups were identified for systolic and diastolic blood pressure: lower, middle, and upper in boys and girls, separately. In boys, predictors of the middle or upper systolic blood pressure trajectories versus the lower trajectory were in birth weight (odds ratio 0.75 [95% confidence interval 0.58-0.96] per SD) and relative weight gain in infancy (4.11 [1.25-13.51] per SD). In girls, greater relative weight gain and linear growth in both infancy and mid-childhood were consistently associated with an almost 2-fold higher likelihood of being in the upper versus lower systolic blood pressure trajectory. The associations for the diastolic blood pressure trajectories were inconsistent. These findings emphasize the importance of identifying children at risk of progression to high blood pressure. Accelerated growth in infancy and mid-childhood may be a key target for early life intervention in prevention of elevated blood pressure progression. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

Associations between body mass index, lean and fat body mass and bone mineral density in middle-aged Australians: The Busselton Healthy Ageing Study.

PubMed

Zhu, Kun; Hunter, Michael; James, Alan; Lim, Ee Mun; Walsh, John P

2015-05-01

Low BMI is a risk factor for osteoporosis, but it is not clear if relationships between BMI, lean mass (LM), fat mass (FM) and BMD are consistent across different levels of BMI. We studied 1929 Caucasian participants (1014 females) aged 45-66years in the Busselton Healthy Ageing Study in Western Australia. Body composition and BMD of total body, lumbar spine, total hip and femoral neck were measured using DXA. From generalized additive models, the positive relationships between BMI and BMD were weaker at high BMI, particularly at the spine and in males. In the entire cohort, adjusting for relevant covariates, LM and FM were significant predictors of all BMD measures in both genders. In men, analysis by tertiles of BMI showed that LM and FM (in kg) were positively associated with BMD (in mg/cm(2)) in tertile 1 except for LM and spine BMD (LM β: 5.18-6.80, FM β: 3.38-9.24, all P<0.05), but not in the middle or upper tertiles (LM β: -3.12-3.07, FM β: -4.75-1.82, P>0.05). In women, LM was positively associated with BMD in each tertile of BMI, except for spine BMD in the upper tertile, with regression coefficients lower in the upper tertile (β: 5.16-9.95, 5.76-9.56 and 2.80-5.78, respectively, all P<0.05). FM was positively associated with total body, spine and total hip BMD in women in BMI tertile 1 (β: 2.86-6.68, P<0.05); these associations were weaker or absent in the middle and upper tertiles. In conclusion, in middle-aged adults the positive relationships between lean or fat mass with BMD among those with higher BMI are absent in males and weaker in females. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Long-term exercising video-endoscopic examination of the upper airway following laryngoplasty surgery: a prospective cross-sectional study of 41 horses.

PubMed

Barnett, T P; O'Leary, J M; Parkin, T D H; Dixon, P M; Barakzai, S Z

2013-09-01

To investigate upper respiratory tract function in horses, previously undergoing laryngoplasty (LP), using exercising video-endoscopy. To evaluate arytenoid abduction and stability, diagnose any concurrent upper airway problems, and correlate these with the owners' perception of success. Horses undergoing LP during a 6-year period at one hospital were initially included. Those available for re-examination were exercised for a duration and intensity considered maximal for their discipline using an over-ground endoscope. Resting and exercising laryngeal and pharyngeal videos were analysed blindly. Multivariable analysis was used to test associations between resting and exercising endoscopic variables, and also between endoscopic variables and owner questionnaire findings. Forty-one horses were included and 78% had a form of upper airway collapse at exercise, with 41% having complex forms, despite 93% of owners reporting the surgery to have been beneficial. Horses with poor abduction (grades 4 or 5/5) were 6 times more likely to make respiratory noise compared with those with good (grades 2 or 3/5) abduction (P = 0.020; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3-27.0), and those not having a ventriculectomy were 4.9 times more likely to produce respiratory noise post operatively (P = 0.048; 95% CI 1.0-23.9). Palatal dysfunction was observed in 24% of horses at rest, and 56% at exercise, with the diagnosis at rest and exercise significantly associated (P = 0.001). Increasing severity of pharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia (prevalence 61%) was significantly associated with increasing arytenoid abduction (P = 0.01). Thirty-four per cent of horses had aryepiglottic fold collapse and 22% of horses had vocal fold collapse. Many horses that had previously had LP were diagnosed with upper airway abnormalities, despite the procedure being considered as beneficial by most owners. When investigating cases of ongoing respiratory noise or poor performance following LP, exercising endoscopy must be considered. Continued respiratory noise may be associated with poor arytenoid abduction and not performing concurrent ventriculectomy. © 2012 EVJ Ltd.

Paleoclimatology indicators of the Salt Wash member of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation near Jensen, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Medlyn, D.A.; Bilbey, S.A.

1993-04-01

The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation has yielded one of the richest floras of the so-called transitional conifers'' of the Middle Mesozoic. Recently, a silicified axis of one of these conifers was collected from the Salt Wash member in essentially the same horizon as a previously reported partial Stegosaurus skeleton. In addition, two other axes of conifers were collected in the same immediate vicinity. Paleoecological considerations are extrapolated from the coniferous flora, vertebrate fauna and associated lithologies. Techniques of paleodendrology and relationships of extant/extinct environments are compared. The paleoclimatic conditions of the transitional conifers and associated dinosaurian fossils are postulated.

Esophageal symptoms and their lack of association with high-resolution manometry in systemic sclerosis patients.

PubMed

Arana-Guajardo, Ana Cecilia; Barrera-Torres, Gustavo; Villarreal-Alarcón, Miguel Ángel; Vega-Morales, David; Esquivel-Valerio, Jorge Antonio

2017-12-16

The esophageal involvement in systemic sclerosis (SSc) causes impact in the morbidity and mortality. High resolution manometry assesses esophageal involvement. Our aim was to categorize esophageal motor disorder in patients with SSc by HRM. We carried out an observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study. All patients underwent HRM as well as semi-structured interviews to assess frequency and severity of upper GI symptoms. Patients also completed the gastroesophageal reflux questionnaire (Carlsson-Dent). We included 19 patients with SSc, 1 with morphea, and 1 with scleroderma sine scleroderma. Dysphagia and heartburn were the most frequent symptoms (61% each). We found an abnormal HRM in 15 (71.4%) patients. We found no statistically significant association between clinical or demographic variables and an abnormal HRM, or between any upper GI symptom and HRM findings. We observed a high prevalence of esophageal symptoms and of HRM abnormalities. However, there was no clear association between symptomatology and HRM findings. HRM does not seem to accurately predict upper GI symptomatology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Reumatología y Colegio Mexicano de Reumatología. All rights reserved.

Television, computer, and video viewing; physical activity; and upper limb fracture risk in children: a population-based case control study.

PubMed

Ma, Deqiong; Jones, Graeme

2003-11-01

The effect of physical activity on upper limb fractures was examined in this population-based case control study with 321 age- and gender-matched pairs. Sports participation increased fracture risk in boys and decreased risk in girls. Television viewing had a deleterious dose response association with wrist and forearm fractures while light physical activity was protective. The aim of this population-based case control study was to examine the association between television, computer, and video viewing; types and levels of physical activity; and upper limb fractures in children 9-16 years of age. A total of 321 fracture cases and 321 randomly selected individually matched controls were studied. Television, computer, and video viewing and types and levels of physical activity were determined by interview-administered questionnaire. Bone strength was assessed by DXA and metacarpal morphometry. In general, sports participation increased total upper limb fracture risk in boys and decreased risk in girls. Gender-specific risk estimates were significantly different for total, contact, noncontact, and high-risk sports participation as well as four individual sports (soccer, cricket, surfing, and swimming). In multivariate analysis, time spent television, computer, and video viewing in both sexes was positively associated with wrist and forearm fracture risk (OR 1.6/category, 95% CI: 1.1-2.2), whereas days involved in light physical activity participation decreased fracture risk (OR 0.8/category, 95% CI: 0.7-1.0). Sports participation increased hand (OR 1.5/sport, 95% CI: 1.1-2.0) and upper arm (OR 29.8/sport, 95% CI: 1.7-535) fracture risk in boys only and decreased wrist and forearm fracture risk in girls only (OR 0.5/sport, 95% CI: 0.3-0.9). Adjustment for bone density and metacarpal morphometry did not alter these associations. There is gender discordance with regard to sports participation and fracture risk in children, which may reflect different approaches to sport. Importantly, television, computer, and video viewing has a dose-dependent association with wrist and forearm fractures, whereas light physical activity is protective. The mechanism is unclear but may involve bone-independent factors, or less likely, changes in bone quality not detected by DXA or metacarpal morphometry.

Interfingering of the Frontier Formation and Aspen Shale, Cumberland Gap, Wyoming.

USGS Publications Warehouse

M'gonigle, J.

1982-01-01

The basal part, or the Chalk Creek Member, of the non-marine lower Frontier Formation (Upper Cretaceous) includes a thin coal bed that grades S into a carbonaceous shale. The latter plus associated sandstones and shales pinch out S of Cumberland Gap and lie stratigraphically below the top of the Aspen Shale. The beds in the upper part of the Aspen, in turn, pinch out within the Frontier Formation. The coal bed and equivalent carbonaceous shale represent in-place accumulation of peat. The interfingering suggests that in SW Wyoming the Lower/Upper Cretaceous boundary is within the Chalk Creek Member. -from Author

Differential Games of inf-sup Type and Isaacs Equations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kaise, Hidehiro; Sheu, S.-J.

2005-06-15

Motivated by the work of Fleming, we provide a general framework to associate inf-sup type values with the Isaacs equations.We show that upper and lower bounds for the generators of inf-sup type are upper and lower Hamiltonians, respectively. In particular, the lower (resp. upper) bound corresponds to the progressive (resp. strictly progressive) strategy. By the Dynamic Programming Principle and identification of the generator, we can prove that the inf-sup type game is characterized as the unique viscosity solution of the Isaacs equation. We also discuss the Isaacs equation with a Hamiltonian of a convex combination between the lower and uppermore » Hamiltonians.« less

Isolated upper eyelid retraction: a sign of idiopathic inflammatory orbital disease.

PubMed

Shome, Debraj; Toshniwal, Svetlana; Jain, Vandana; Natarajan, Sundaram; Vemuganti, Geeta K

2008-01-01

A 41-year-old woman was examined for left upper eyelid retraction. Remaining ocular and systemic examination was unremarkable. Orbital CT demonstrated an ill-defined, extraconal, superior orbital soft-tissue mass involving the levator palpebrae superioris muscle. Incisional biopsy with histopathology demonstrated idiopathic orbital inflammation. The patient was started on a gradually tapering dose of oral steroids, for 6 weeks. On follow-up, the eyelid retraction had resolved. We report this case to demonstrate that idiopathic inflammatory orbital disease, localized to the superior orbit, may cause isolated upper eyelid retraction without associated proptosis. This condition resolves with medical therapy, leading to symmetrical palpebral apertures.

Nuclear reactor

DOEpatents

Wade, Elman E.

1979-01-01

A nuclear reactor including two rotatable plugs and a positive top core holddown structure. The top core holddown structure is divided into two parts: a small core cover, and a large core cover. The small core cover, and the upper internals associated therewith, are attached to the small rotating plug, and the large core cover, with its associated upper internals, is attached to the large rotating plug. By so splitting the core holddown structures, under-the-plug refueling is accomplished without the necessity of enlarging the reactor pressure vessel to provide a storage space for the core holddown structure during refueling. Additionally, the small and large rotating plugs, and their associated core covers, are arranged such that the separation of the two core covers to permit rotation is accomplished without the installation of complex lifting mechanisms.

Spectral Classification of the 30 Doradus Stellar Populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walborn, Nolan R.; Blades, J. Chris

1997-10-01

An optical spectral classification study of 106 OB stars within the 30 Doradus Nebula has sharpened the description of the spatial and temporal structures among the associated clusters. Five distinct stellar groups are recognized: (1) the central early-O (Carina phase) concentration, which includes Radcliffe 136 (R136); (2) a younger (Orion phase) population to the north and west of R136, containing heavily embedded early-O dwarfs and IR sources, the formation of which was likely triggered by the central concentration; (3) an older population of late-O and early-B supergiants (Scorpius OB1 phase) throughout the central field, whose structural relationship, if any, to the younger groups is unclear; (4) a previously known, even older compact cluster 3' northwest of R136, containing A- and M-type supergiants (h and χ Persei phase), which has evidently affected the nebular dynamics substantially; and (5) a newly recognized Sco OB1-phase association, surrounding the recently discovered luminous blue variable (LBV) R143, in the southern part of the Nebula. The intricacy of this region and the implications for the interpretation of more distant starbursts are emphasized. The evidence indicates that the formation of the 30 Dor stellar content was neither instantaneous nor continuous, but rather that the stars formed in discrete events at different epochs. The average difference between the derived and calibration absolute visual magnitudes of the stars is 0.05, indicating that the classification, calibration, and adopted distance modulus (V0 - MV = 18.6) are accurate. For 70 of the stars, either the absolute value of that difference is <=0.6 mag, or they are subluminous dwarfs or superluminous supergiants. Many astrophysically interesting objects have been isolated for further investigation. Surprisingly, in view of the presence of several O3 supergiants, the mid-Of star R139 is identified as the most massive object in this sample; it is located well along the 120 M⊙ track, very near the Humphreys-Davidson limit, and it is probably an immediate LBV precursor. This work can and should be extended in three ways: (1) higher resolution and higher S/N observations of many of the stars with larger ground-based telescopes for quantitative analysis, (2) ground-based spectral classification of the numerous additional accessible stars in the field, and (3) spatially resolved spectral classification of compact multiple systems with the Hubble Space Telescope.

Late-onset life-threatening angioedema and upper airway obstruction caused by angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor: report of a case.

PubMed

Weng, P K; Wang, H W; Lin, J K; Su, W Y

1997-06-01

Angioedema is a rare but potentially lethal adverse effect when associated with upper airway obstruction. Sporadic cases of angioedema secondary to angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) have been reported in the literature. The overall incidence is around 0.1% to 0.2%, and the time of onset is usually during the first week of ACEI therapy. Late-onset angioedema secondary to treatment with ACEIs is much more frequent than appreciated, and is largely unrecognized because of the absence of temporal correlation between ACEI therapy and the development of angioedema. Since angioedema may progress to upper airway obstruction, otolaryngologists must be aware of this association. Most importantly, late-onset angioedema should alert the clinician to discontinue the ACEI immediately to prevent further morbidity. This report presents an example of late-onset angioedema which was precipitated by taking a double dose of captopril incidentally. The case is discussed, and the literature, pathophysiology and treatment of angioedema are reviewed.

Roles of hot electrons in generating upper-hybrid waves in the earth's radiation belt

DOE PAGES

Hwang, J.; Shin, D. K.; Yoon, P. H.; ...

2017-05-01

Electrostatic fluctuations near upper-hybrid frequency, which are sometimes accompanied by multiple-harmonic electron cyclotron frequency bands above and below the upper-hybrid frequency, are common occurrences in the Earth's radiation belt, as revealed through the twin Van Allen Probe spacecrafts. It is customary to use the upper-hybrid emissions for estimating the background electron density, which in turn can be used to determine the plasmapause locations, but the role of hot electrons in generating such fluctuations has not been discussed in detail. The present paper carries out detailed analyses of data from the Waves instrument, which is part of the Electric and Magneticmore » Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science suite onboard the Van Allen Probes. Combined with the theoretical calculation, it is shown that the peak intensity associated with the upper-hybrid fluctuations might be predominantly determined by tenuous but hot electrons and that denser cold background electrons do not seem to contribute much to the peak intensity. This finding shows that upper-hybrid fluctuations detected during quiet time are not only useful for the determination of the background cold electron density but also contain information on the ambient hot electrons population as well.« less

Roles of hot electrons in generating upper-hybrid waves in the earth's radiation belt

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hwang, J.; Shin, D. K.; Yoon, P. H.

Electrostatic fluctuations near upper-hybrid frequency, which are sometimes accompanied by multiple-harmonic electron cyclotron frequency bands above and below the upper-hybrid frequency, are common occurrences in the Earth's radiation belt, as revealed through the twin Van Allen Probe spacecrafts. It is customary to use the upper-hybrid emissions for estimating the background electron density, which in turn can be used to determine the plasmapause locations, but the role of hot electrons in generating such fluctuations has not been discussed in detail. The present paper carries out detailed analyses of data from the Waves instrument, which is part of the Electric and Magneticmore » Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science suite onboard the Van Allen Probes. Combined with the theoretical calculation, it is shown that the peak intensity associated with the upper-hybrid fluctuations might be predominantly determined by tenuous but hot electrons and that denser cold background electrons do not seem to contribute much to the peak intensity. This finding shows that upper-hybrid fluctuations detected during quiet time are not only useful for the determination of the background cold electron density but also contain information on the ambient hot electrons population as well.« less

Metals in fish from the Upper Benue River and lakes Geriyo and Njuwa in northeastern Nigeria

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eromosele, C.O.; Eromosele, I.C.; Muktar, S.L.M.

Lakes Geriyo and Njuwa occupy natural depressions near the upper Benue River in northeastern Nigeria. The lakes are flooded by the river during the rainy season spanning the months of May to September. Fishing activities on the lakes and river provide fish for consumption by the local communities. Industrial activity around the upper Benue River and the lakes is low and there is no information on other activities with the potential for polluting the Benue River as it flows from neighboring Cameroon. However, an unconfirmed report indicated high levels of lead in the upper Benue River, generally speculated as arisingmore » from biogeometrical factors. Trace elements, some of which are toxic, may accumulate in edible marine organisms to levels which may be deleterious to human health. For the upper Benue River and its associate lakes, Geriyo and Njuwa, there is yet no report of a systematic study to assess the levels of metals in fish found in these waters. This paper presents the results of a study on metal levels in fish collected from Lakes Geriyo and Njuwa and upper Benue River in northeastern Nigeria. 7 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs.« less

Dose to heart substructures is associated with non-cancer death after SBRT in stage I-II NSCLC patients.

PubMed

Stam, Barbara; Peulen, Heike; Guckenberger, Matthias; Mantel, Frederick; Hope, Andrew; Werner-Wasik, Maria; Belderbos, Jose; Grills, Inga; O'Connell, Nicolette; Sonke, Jan-Jakob

2017-06-01

To investigate potential associations between dose to heart (sub)structures and non-cancer death, in early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). 803 patients with early stage NSCLC received SBRT with predominant schedules of 3×18Gy (59%) or 4×12Gy (19%). All patients were registered to an average anatomy, their planned dose deformed accordingly, and dosimetric parameters for heart substructures were obtained. Multivariate Cox regression and a sensitivity analysis were used to identify doses to heart substructures or heart region with a significant association with non-cancer death respectively. Median follow-up was 34.8months. Two year Kaplan-Meier overall survival rate was 67%. Of the deceased patients, 26.8% died of cancer. Multivariate analysis showed that the maximum dose on the left atrium (median 6.5Gy EQD2, range=0.009-197, HR=1.005, p-value=0.035), and the dose to 90% of the superior vena cava (median 0.59Gy EQD2, range=0.003-70, HR=1.025, p-value=0.008) were significantly associated with non-cancer death. Sensitivity analysis identified the upper region of the heart (atria+vessels) to be significantly associated with non-cancer death. Doses to mainly the upper region of the heart were significantly associated with non-cancer death. Consequently, dose sparing in particular of the upper region of the heart could potentially improve outcome, and should be further studied. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Alder Establishment and Channel Dynamics in a Tributary of the South Fork Eel River, Mendocino County, California

Treesearch

William J. Trush; Edward C. Connor; Knight Alan W.

1989-01-01

Riparian communities established along Elder Creek, a tributary of the upper South Fork Eel River, are bounded by two frequencies of periodic flooding. The upper limit for the riparian zone occurs at bankfull stage. The lower riparian limit is associated with a more frequent stage height, called the active channel, having an exceedance probability of 11 percent on a...

Observations of magnetospheric ionization enhancements using upper-hybrid resonance noise band data from the RAE-1 satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mosier, S. R.

1975-01-01

Noise bands associated with the upper-hybrid resonance were used to provide direct evidence for the existence of regions of enhanced density in the equatorial magnetosphere near L = 2. Density enhancements ranging from several percent to as high as 45 percent are observed with radial dimensions of several hundred kilometers. The enhancement characteristics strongly suggest their identification as magnetospheric whistler ducts.

Vertically Propagating Waves in the Upper Atmosphere of Saturn From Cassini Radio Occultations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schinder, P. J.; Flasar, F. M.; Kliore, A. J.; French, R. G.; Marouf, E. A.; Nagy, A.; Rappaport, N.; Anabtawi, A.; Asmar, S.; Barbinis, E.; Fleischman, D. U.; Goltz, G. L.; Johnston, D. V.; Rochblatt, D.; McGhee, C. A.

2005-12-01

We present results from 12 ingress and egress soundings done within 10 degrees of Saturn's equator. Above the 100-mbar level, near the tropopause, the vertical profiles of temperature are marked by undulatory structure that may be associated with vertically propagating waves. We determine the properties and spectra of these waves, and speculate on their origins and their dynamical effects on the upper atmosphere.

Mercury dynamics in relation to dissolved organic carbon concentration and quality during high flow events in three northeastern U.S. streams

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dittman, Jason A.; Shanley, James B.; Driscoll, Charles T.; Aiken, George R.; Chalmers, Ann T.; Towse, Janet E.; Selvendiran, Pranesh

2010-01-01

Mercury (Hg) contamination is widespread in remote areas of the northeastern United States. Forested uplands have accumulated a large reservoir of Hg in soil from decades of elevated anthropogenic deposition that can be released episodically to stream water during high flows. The objective of this study was to evaluate spatial and temporal variations in stream water Hg species and organic matter fractions over a range of hydrologic conditions in three forested upland watersheds (United States). Mercury and organic matter concentrations increased with discharge at all three sites; however, the partitioning of Hg fractions (dissolved versus particulate) differed among sites and seasons. Associated with increased discharge, flow paths shifted from mineral soil under base flow to upper soil horizons. As flow paths shifted, greater concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) richer in aromatic substances were flushed from upper soil horizons to stream water. The hydrophobic organic matter associated with humic material from upper soils appears to have had a greater capacity to bind Hg. Because of the strong correlation between Hg and DOC, we hypothesize that there was a concurrent shift in the source of Hg with DOC from lower mineral soil to upper soil horizons. Our study suggests that stream discharge is an effective predictor of dissolved total Hg flux.

Spatial Distributions of Young Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraus, Adam L.; Hillenbrand, Lynne A.

2008-10-01

We analyze the spatial distribution of young stars in Taurus-Auriga and Upper Sco, as determined from the two-point correlation function (i.e., the mean surface density of neighbors). The corresponding power-law fits allow us to determine the fractal dimensions of each association's spatial distribution, measure the stellar velocity dispersions, and distinguish between the bound binary population and chance alignments of members. We find that the fractal dimension of Taurus is D ~ 1.05, consistent with its filamentary structure. The fractal dimension of Upper Sco may be even shallower (D ~ 0.7), but this fit is uncertain due to the limited area and possible spatially variable incompleteness. We also find that random stellar motions have erased all primordial structure on scales of lsim0.07° in Taurus and lsim1.7° in Upper Sco; given ages of ~1 and ~5 Myr, the corresponding internal velocity dispersions are ~0.2 and ~1.0 km s-1, respectively. Finally, we find that binaries can be distinguished from chance alignments at separations of lsim120'' (17,000 AU) in Taurus and lsim75'' (11,000 AU) in Upper Sco. The binary populations in these associations that we previously studied, spanning separations of 3''-30'', is dominated by binary systems. However, the few lowest mass pairs (Mprim <~ 0.3 M⊙) might be chance alignments.

Results after endoscopic treatment of postoperative upper gastrointestinal fistulas and leaks using combined Vicryl plug and fibrin glue.

PubMed

Truong, S; Böhm, G; Klinge, U; Stumpf, M; Schumpelick, V

2004-07-01

The incidence of clinically relevant anastomotic leaks after upper gastrointestinal surgery is approximately 4% to 20%, and the associated mortality is up to 80%. Depending on the clinical presentation, the treatment options include surgery, conservative treatment with or without external drainage or endoscopic treatment. This report presents nine cases of anastomotic leaks or fistulae after surgery for upper gastrointestinal cancers that were treated by insertion of a Vicryl plug and sealing with fibrin glue. Under sedation, all nine patients underwent endoscopic lavage of the cavity at the site of anastomotic leakage. The entrance to the cavity then was filled with Vicryl mesh and sealed off with fibrin glue. After the procedure, the patients underwent endoscopy and a water-soluble contrast study for assessment of the result. Seven of the nine patients had complete healing of the anastomotic leak or fistula after one to two endoscopic treatments. In one case, the treatment failed immediately because of a large and direct tracheoesophageal fistula. Another patient experienced recurrent intrathoracic abscesses after initial technical success. Postoperative upper gastrointestinal fistulas or anastomotic leaks can be managed successfully with little morbidity by means of endoscopic insertion of Vicryl mesh with fibrin glue, thereby avoiding repetitive major surgery and its associated risks.

Exposure to biomass smoke as a risk factor for oesophageal and gastric cancer in low-income populations: A systematic review.

PubMed

Kayamba, Violet; Heimburger, Douglas C; Morgan, Douglas R; Atadzhanov, Masharip; Kelly, Paul

2017-06-01

Upper gastrointestinal cancers contribute significantly to cancer-related morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, but they continue to receive limited attention. The high incidence in young adults remains unexplained, and the risk factors have not been fully described. A literature search was conducted using the electronic database PubMed. Beginning from January 1980 to February 2016, all articles evaluating biomass smoke exposure with oesophageal and gastric cancer were reviewed. Over 70% of the African population relies on biomass fuel, meaning most Africans are exposed to biomass smoke throughout their lives. Cigarette smoke is an established risk factor for upper gastrointestinal cancers, and some of its carcinogenic constituents are also present in biomass smoke. We found eight case-control studies reporting associations between exposure to biomass smoke and oesophageal cancer, and two linking biomass smoke to gastric cancer. All of these papers reported significant positive associations between exposure and cancer risk. Further research is needed in order to fully define the constituents of biomass smoke, which could each have varying specific and synergistic or independent contributions to the development of upper gastrointestinal cancers. Exposure to biomass smoke is an environmental factor influencing the development of upper gastrointestinal cancers, especially in low-resource settings.

Professional musicians with craniomandibular dysfunctions treated with oral splints.

PubMed

Steinmetz, Anke; Ridder, Paul H; Methfessel, Götz; Muche, Burkhard

2009-10-01

Craniomandibular dysfunction (CMD) symptoms occur frequently in violin/viola and wind players and can be associated with pain in the neck, shoulders and arm. In the current study, the effect of oral splint treatment of CMD on reducing pain and symptoms especially in these areas was investigated. Thirty (30) musicians undergoing CMD treatment with oral splints participated in this study. They completed a questionnaire that addressed CMD symptoms, localization of pain, and subjective changes in symptoms. Pain in the shoulder and/or upper extremity was the most frequent symptom reported by 83% of subjects, followed by neck pain (80%) and pain in the teeth/TMJ regions (63%). Treatment with oral splints contributed to a significant decrease in neck pain in 91%, teeth/TMJ pain in 83%, and shoulder and upper extremity pain in 76% of the musicians. Eighty percent (80%) of the patients reported improvement of their predominant symptoms. CMD can be a potential cause for pain in the neck, shoulders, and upper extremities of musicians. It is paramount that musicians with musculoskeletal problems be examined for CMD symptoms. Treatment with oral splints seems to be valuable. Further prospective, randomized controlled studies are necessary to confirm efficacy of oral splint treatment in CMD-associated pain and problems in the neck, shoulder, and the upper extremities in musicians.

Prediction of cancer specific survival after radical nephroureterectomy for upper tract urothelial carcinoma: development of an optimized postoperative nomogram using decision curve analysis.

PubMed

Rouprêt, Morgan; Hupertan, Vincent; Seisen, Thomas; Colin, Pierre; Xylinas, Evanguelos; Yates, David R; Fajkovic, Harun; Lotan, Yair; Raman, Jay D; Zigeuner, Richard; Remzi, Mesut; Bolenz, Christian; Novara, Giacomo; Kassouf, Wassim; Ouzzane, Adil; Rozet, François; Cussenot, Olivier; Martinez-Salamanca, Juan I; Fritsche, Hans-Martin; Walton, Thomas J; Wood, Christopher G; Bensalah, Karim; Karakiewicz, Pierre I; Montorsi, Francesco; Margulis, Vitaly; Shariat, Shahrokh F

2013-05-01

We conceived and proposed a unique and optimized nomogram to predict cancer specific survival after radical nephroureterectomy in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma by merging the 2 largest multicenter data sets reported in this population. The international and the French national collaborative groups on upper tract urothelial carcinoma pooled data on 3,387 patients treated with radical nephroureterectomy for whom full data for nomogram development were available. The merged study population was randomly split into the development cohort (2,371) and the external validation cohort (1,016). Cox regressions were used for univariable and multivariable analyses, and to build different models. The ultimate reduced nomogram was assessed using Harrell's concordance index (c-index) and decision curve analysis. Of the 2,371 patients in the nomogram development cohort 510 (21.5%) died of upper tract urothelial carcinoma during followup. The actuarial cancer specific survival probability at 5 years was 73.7% (95% CI 71.9-75.6). Decision curve analysis revealed that the use of the best model was associated with benefit gains relative to the prediction of cancer specific survival. The optimized nomogram included only 5 variables associated with cancer specific survival on multivariable analysis, those of age (p = 0.001), T stage (p <0.001), N stage (p = 0.001), architecture (p = 0.02) and lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.001). The discriminative accuracy of the nomogram was 0.8 (95% CI 0.77-0.86). Using standard pathological features obtained from the largest data set of upper tract urothelial carcinomas worldwide, we devised and validated an accurate and ultimate nomogram, superior to any single clinical variable, for predicting cancer specific survival after radical nephroureterectomy. Copyright © 2013 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Risk factors for complications associated with upper gastrointestinal foreign bodies

PubMed Central

Hong, Kyong Hee; Kim, Yoon Jae; Kim, Jae Hak; Chun, Song Wook; Kim, Hee Man; Cho, Jae Hee

2015-01-01

AIM: To investigate predictive risk factors associated with complications in the endoscopic removal of foreign bodies from the upper gastrointestinal tract. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 194 patients with a diagnosis of foreign body impaction in the upper gastrointestinal tract, confirmed by endoscopy, at two university hospital in South Korea. Patient demographic data, including age, gender, intention to ingestion, symptoms at admission, and comorbidities, were collected. Clinical features of the foreign bodies, such as type, size, sharpness of edges, number, and location, were analyzed. Endoscopic data those were analyzed included duration of foreign body impaction, duration of endoscopic performance, endoscopic device, days of hospitalization, complication rate, 30-d mortality rate, and the number of operations related to foreign body removal. RESULTS: The types of upper gastrointestinal foreign bodies included fish bones, drugs, shells, meat, metal, and animal bones. The locations of impacted foreign bodies were the upper esophagus (57.2%), mid esophagus (28.4%), stomach (10.8%), and lower esophagus (3.6%). The median size of the foreign bodies was 26.2 ± 16.7 mm. Among 194 patients, endoscopic removal was achieved in 189, and complications developed in 51 patients (26.9%). Significant complications associated with foreign body impaction and removal included deep lacerations with minor bleeding (n = 31, 16%), ulcer (n = 11, 5.7%), perforation (n = 3, 1.5%), and abscess (n = 1, 0.5%). Four patients underwent operations because of incomplete endoscopic foreign body extraction. In multivariate analyses, risk factors for endoscopic complications and failure were sharpness (HR = 2.48, 95%CI: 1.07-5.72; P = 0.034) and a greater than 12-h duration of impaction (HR = 2.42, 95%CI: 1.12-5.25, P = 0.025). CONCLUSION: In cases of longer than 12 h since foreign body ingestion or sharp-pointed objects, rapid endoscopic intervention should be provided in patients with ingested foreign bodies. PMID:26185385

Self-Reported Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Distal Upper Extremities and the Neck in German Veterinarians: A Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

Kozak, Agnessa; Schedlbauer, Grita; Peters, Claudia; Nienhaus, Albert

2014-01-01

Background Veterinary work is a physically demanding profession and entails the risk of injuries and diseases of the musculoskeletal system, particularly in the upper body. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), the consequences and work-related accidents in German veterinarians were investigated. Work-related and individual factors associated with MSD of upper extremities and the neck were analyzed. Methods In 2011, a self-reporting Standardized Nordic Questionnaire was mailed to registered veterinarians in seven federal medical associations in Germany. A total of 3174 (38.4%) veterinarians responded. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between risk factors and MSD-related impairment of daily activities. Results MSD in the neck (66.6%) and shoulder (60.5%) were more prevalent than in the hand (34.5%) or elbow (24.5%). Normal activities were affected in 28.7% (neck), 29.5% (shoulder), 19.4% (hand) and 14% (elbow) of the respondents. MSD in the upper body occurred significantly more often in large animal practitioners. Accidents that resulted in MSD were most frequently reported in the hand/wrist (14.3%) or in the shoulder (10.8%). The majority of all accidents in the distal upper extremities were caused by animals than by other factors (19% vs. 9.2%). For each area of the body, a specific set of individual and work-related factors contributed significantly to severe MSD: Older age, gender, previous injuries, BMI, practice type, veterinary procedures such as dentistry, rectal procedures and obstetric procedures as well as high demands and personal burnout. Conclusion From the perspective of occupational health and safety, it seems to be necessary to improve accident prevention and to optimize the ergonomics of specific tasks. Our data suggest the need for target group-specific preventive measures that also focus on the psychological factors at work. PMID:24586718

Associations between musculoskeletal pain and work-related factors among public service sector computer workers in Kaunas County, Lithuania.

PubMed

Kaliniene, Gintare; Ustinaviciene, Ruta; Skemiene, Lina; Vaiciulis, Vidmantas; Vasilavicius, Paulius

2016-10-07

Information technologies in occupational activities have been developing very rapid. Epidemiological studies have shown that musculoskeletal disorders are widely prevalent among employees working with a computer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in various anatomical areas and its associations with individual, ergonomic, and psychosocial factors among computer workers of the public sector in Kaunas County, Lithuania. The investigation consisting of two parts - questionnaire study (Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire) and direct observation (evaluation of work ergonomics using the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment [RULA]) - was carried out in three randomly selected public sector companies of Kaunas County. The representative study sample comprised 513 public service office workers. The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in five anatomical areas of the body (shoulders, elbows, wrists/hands, as well as upper and low back) was evaluated. The prevalence rates of shoulder, elbow, wrist/hand, upper and low back pain were 50.5 %, 20.3 %, 26.3 %, 44.8 %, and 56.1 %, respectively. Individual factors such as gender, age, computer work experience, and body mass index were found as significant for musculoskeletal pain in various musculoskeletal regions. The respondents reporting pain in shoulder, wrist/hand, upper back, and low back areas had a statistically significantly higher mean RULA score. The duration of working with a computer was found as a significant factor for shoulder pain. High quantitative demands were related to musculoskeletal pain in all investigated anatomical areas expect for the low back; weak social support was a significant predictor for complaints in upper and low back areas. This study confirmed associations between musculoskeletal pain and work ergonomics; therefore, preventive measures at the workplace should be directed to the improvement in ergonomic work environment, education, and workload optimization.

Non-elite gymnastics participation is associated with greater bone strength, muscle size, and function in pre- and early pubertal girls.

PubMed

Burt, L A; Naughton, G A; Greene, D A; Courteix, D; Ducher, G

2012-04-01

Recent reports indicate an increase in forearm fractures in children. Bone geometric properties are an important determinant of bone strength and therefore fracture risk. Participation in non-elite gymnastics appears to contribute to improving young girls' musculoskeletal health, more specifically in the upper body. The primary aim of this study was to determine the association between non-elite gymnastics participation and upper limb bone mass, geometry, and strength in addition to muscle size and function in young girls. Eighty-eight pre- and early pubertal girls (30 high-training gymnasts [HGYM, 6-16 hr/ wk], 29 low-training gymnasts [LGYM, 1-5 h r/wk] and 29 non-gymnasts [NONGYM]), aged 6-11 years were recruited. Upper limb lean mass, BMD and BMC were derived from a whole body DXA scan. Forearm volumetric BMD, bone geometry, estimated strength, and muscle CSA were determined using peripheral QCT. Upper body muscle function was investigated with muscle strength, explosive power, and muscle endurance tasks. HGYM showed greater forearm bone strength compared with NGYM, as well as greater arm lean mass, BMC, and muscle function (+5% to +103%, p < 0.05). LGYM displayed greater arm lean mass, BMC, muscle power, and endurance than NGYM (+4% to +46%, p < 0.05); however, the difference in bone strength did not reach significance. Estimated fracture risk at the distal radius, which accounted for body weight, was lower in both groups of gymnasts. Compared with NONGYM, HGYM tended to show larger skeletal differences than LGYM; yet, the two groups of gymnasts only differed for arm lean mass and muscle CSA. Non-elite gymnastics participation was associated with musculoskeletal benefits in upper limb bone geometry, strength and muscle function. Differences between the two gymnastic groups emerged for arm lean mass and muscle CSA, but not for bone strength.

Academic success or failure in nursing students: results of a retrospective observational study.

PubMed

Lancia, Loreto; Petrucci, Cristina; Giorgi, Fabio; Dante, Angelo; Cifone, Maria Grazia

2013-12-01

Nursing student academic failure is a phenomenon of growing international interest, not only because of its economic impact but also because it negatively affects the availability of future nurses in different healthcare systems. To recruit the students with the highest probability of academic success, an open challenge for universities is to recruit students who have previously demonstrated superior scholastic aptitudes that appear to be associated with a greater likelihood of academic success. Documenting the relationship between the selection methods used when selecting nursing students and academic failure will contribute to the international debate concerning the optimisation of the selection strategies. The principal aim of this study was to investigate the role in predicting nursing student academic success of (1) the upper-secondary diploma grades and (2) the score obtained by students in the nursing degree program admission test. A retrospective observational study was conducted. Five cohorts of nursing students, matriculated in consecutive academic years from 2004 to 2008, in an Italian bachelor's degree program were observed retrospectively. Overall, 61.2% of the 1006 considered students concluded their degree within the legal duration allowed for the nursing degree. Students who failed were those who had lowest grades associated with their upper-secondary diploma coursework (p=0.000) and were male (p=0.000). The grades associated with the upper-secondary diploma coursework, unlike the admission test score, correlates positively with the final degree grade and the average value of degree program examination scores. No correlation was found between the upper-secondary diploma coursework grades and the scores obtained in the test for the nursing degree program admission test (r=-0.037). These results suggest that upper-secondary diploma coursework grades are a parameter that should receive great consideration, especially in cases where there are planned numbers of incoming nursing degree students. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pre-Test Assessment of the Upper Bound of the Drag Coefficient Repeatability of a Wind Tunnel Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ulbrich, N.; L'Esperance, A.

2017-01-01

A new method is presented that computes a pre{test estimate of the upper bound of the drag coefficient repeatability of a wind tunnel model. This upper bound is a conservative estimate of the precision error of the drag coefficient. For clarity, precision error contributions associated with the measurement of the dynamic pressure are analyzed separately from those that are associated with the measurement of the aerodynamic loads. The upper bound is computed by using information about the model, the tunnel conditions, and the balance in combination with an estimate of the expected output variations as input. The model information consists of the reference area and an assumed angle of attack. The tunnel conditions are described by the Mach number and the total pressure or unit Reynolds number. The balance inputs are the partial derivatives of the axial and normal force with respect to all balance outputs. Finally, an empirical output variation of 1.0 microV/V is used to relate both random instrumentation and angle measurement errors to the precision error of the drag coefficient. Results of the analysis are reported by plotting the upper bound of the precision error versus the tunnel conditions. The analysis shows that the influence of the dynamic pressure measurement error on the precision error of the drag coefficient is often small when compared with the influence of errors that are associated with the load measurements. Consequently, the sensitivities of the axial and normal force gages of the balance have a significant influence on the overall magnitude of the drag coefficient's precision error. Therefore, results of the error analysis can be used for balance selection purposes as the drag prediction characteristics of balances of similar size and capacities can objectively be compared. Data from two wind tunnel models and three balances are used to illustrate the assessment of the precision error of the drag coefficient.

Genome-Wide Association Study of the Genetic Determinants of Emphysema Distribution.

PubMed

Boueiz, Adel; Lutz, Sharon M; Cho, Michael H; Hersh, Craig P; Bowler, Russell P; Washko, George R; Halper-Stromberg, Eitan; Bakke, Per; Gulsvik, Amund; Laird, Nan M; Beaty, Terri H; Coxson, Harvey O; Crapo, James D; Silverman, Edwin K; Castaldi, Peter J; DeMeo, Dawn L

2017-03-15

Emphysema has considerable variability in the severity and distribution of parenchymal destruction throughout the lungs. Upper lobe-predominant emphysema has emerged as an important predictor of response to lung volume reduction surgery. Yet, aside from alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, the genetic determinants of emphysema distribution remain largely unknown. To identify the genetic influences of emphysema distribution in non-alpha-1 antitrypsin-deficient smokers. A total of 11,532 subjects with complete genotype and computed tomography densitometry data in the COPDGene (Genetic Epidemiology of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease [COPD]; non-Hispanic white and African American), ECLIPSE (Evaluation of COPD Longitudinally to Identify Predictive Surrogate Endpoints), and GenKOLS (Genetics of Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) studies were analyzed. Two computed tomography scan emphysema distribution measures (difference between upper-third and lower-third emphysema; ratio of upper-third to lower-third emphysema) were tested for genetic associations in all study subjects. Separate analyses in each study population were followed by a fixed effect metaanalysis. Single-nucleotide polymorphism-, gene-, and pathway-based approaches were used. In silico functional evaluation was also performed. We identified five loci associated with emphysema distribution at genome-wide significance. These loci included two previously reported associations with COPD susceptibility (4q31 near HHIP and 15q25 near CHRNA5) and three new associations near SOWAHB, TRAPPC9, and KIAA1462. Gene set analysis and in silico functional evaluation revealed pathways and cell types that may potentially contribute to the pathogenesis of emphysema distribution. This multicohort genome-wide association study identified new genomic loci associated with differential emphysematous destruction throughout the lungs. These findings may point to new biologic pathways on which to expand diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 00608764).

The Relationship between Independent Transfer Skills and Upper Limb Kinetics in Wheelchair Users

PubMed Central

Boninger, Michael L.; Koontz, Alicia M.

2014-01-01

Transfers are one of the most physically demanding wheelchair activities. The purpose of this study was to determine if using proper transfer skills as measured by the Transfer Assessment Instrument (TAI) is associated with reduced loading on the upper extremities. Twenty-three wheelchair users performed transfers to a level-height bench while a series of forces plates, load cells, and a motion capture system recorded the biomechanics of their natural transferring techniques. Their transfer skills were simultaneously evaluated by two study clinicians using the TAI. Logistic regression and multiple linear regression models were used to determine the relationships between TAI scores and the kinetic variables on both arms across all joints. The results showed that the TAI measured transfer skills were closely associated with the magnitude and timing of joint moments (P < .02, model R2 values ranged from 0.27 to 0.79). Proper completion of the skills which targeted the trailing arm was associated with lower average resultant moments and rates of rise of resultant moments at the trailing shoulder and/or elbow. Some skills involving the leading side had the effect of increasing the magnitude or rate loading on the leading side. Knowledge of the kinetic outcomes associated with each skill may help users to achieve the best load-relieving effects for their upper extremities. PMID:25162039

Search for anomalous single top quark production in association with a photon in pp collisions at √(s) = 8 TeV

DOE PAGES

Khachatryan, Vardan

2016-04-06

We found the results of a search for flavor changing neutral currents (FCNC) through single top quark production in association with a photon is presented. The study is based on proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV using data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.8 fb -1. The search for tγ events where t → Wb andW → μn is conducted in final states with a muon, a photon, at least one hadronic jet with at most one being consistent with originating from a bottom quark, and missing transversemore » momentum. Furthermore, there was no evidence of single top quark production in association with a photon through a FCNC is observed. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level are set on the tug and tcg anomalous couplings and translated into upper limits on the branching fraction of the FCNC top quark decays: B(t → uγ) < 1.3 x 10 -4 and B(t →cγ) < 1.7 x 10 -3. Upper limits are also set on the cross section of associated tγ production in a restricted phase-space region. These are the most stringent limits currently available.« less

Search for anomalous single top quark production in association with a photon in pp collisions at √{s}=8 TeV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khachatryan, V.; Sirunyan, A. M.; Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; Asilar, E.; Bergauer, T.; Brandstetter, J.; Brondolin, E.; Dragicevic, M.; Erö, J.; Flechl, M.; Friedl, M.; Frühwirth, R.; Ghete, V. M.; Hartl, C.; Hörmann, N.; Hrubec, J.; Jeitler, M.; Knünz, V.; König, A.; Krammer, M.; Krätschmer, I.; Liko, D.; Matsushita, T.; Mikulec, I.; Rabady, D.; Rahbaran, B.; Rohringer, H.; Schieck, J.; Schöfbeck, R.; Strauss, J.; Treberer-Treberspurg, W.; Waltenberger, W.; Wulz, C.-E.; Mossolov, V.; Shumeiko, N.; Suarez Gonzalez, J.; Alderweireldt, S.; Cornelis, T.; de Wolf, E. A.; Janssen, X.; Knutsson, A.; Lauwers, J.; Luyckx, S.; Rougny, R.; van de Klundert, M.; van Haevermaet, H.; van Mechelen, P.; van Remortel, N.; van Spilbeeck, A.; Abu Zeid, S.; Blekman, F.; D'Hondt, J.; Daci, N.; de Bruyn, I.; Deroover, K.; Heracleous, N.; Keaveney, J.; Lowette, S.; Moreels, L.; Olbrechts, A.; Python, Q.; Strom, D.; Tavernier, S.; van Doninck, W.; van Mulders, P.; van Onsem, G. P.; van Parijs, I.; Barria, P.; Brun, H.; Caillol, C.; Clerbaux, B.; de Lentdecker, G.; Fasanella, G.; Favart, L.; Grebenyuk, A.; Karapostoli, G.; Lenzi, T.; Léonard, A.; Maerschalk, T.; Marinov, A.; Perniè, L.; Randle-Conde, A.; Reis, T.; Seva, T.; Vander Velde, C.; Vanlaer, P.; Yonamine, R.; Zenoni, F.; Zhang, F.; Beernaert, K.; Benucci, L.; Cimmino, A.; Crucy, S.; Dobur, D.; Fagot, A.; Garcia, G.; Gul, M.; McCartin, J.; Ocampo Rios, A. A.; Poyraz, D.; Ryckbosch, D.; Salva, S.; Sigamani, M.; Strobbe, N.; Tytgat, M.; van Driessche, W.; Yazgan, E.; Zaganidis, N.; Basegmez, S.; Beluffi, C.; Bondu, O.; Brochet, S.; Bruno, G.; Caudron, A.; Ceard, L.; da Silveira, G. G.; Delaere, C.; Favart, D.; Forthomme, L.; Giammanco, A.; Hollar, J.; Jafari, A.; Jez, P.; Komm, M.; Lemaitre, V.; Mertens, A.; Nuttens, C.; Perrini, L.; Pin, A.; Piotrzkowski, K.; Popov, A.; Quertenmont, L.; Selvaggi, M.; Vidal Marono, M.; Beliy, N.; Hammad, G. H.; Aldá Júnior, W. L.; Alves, G. A.; Brito, L.; Correa Martins Junior, M.; Hamer, M.; Hensel, C.; Mora Herrera, C.; Moraes, A.; Pol, M. E.; Rebello Teles, P.; Belchior Batista Das Chagas, E.; Carvalho, W.; Chinellato, J.; Custódio, A.; da Costa, E. M.; de Jesus Damiao, D.; de Oliveira Martins, C.; Fonseca de Souza, S.; Huertas Guativa, L. M.; Malbouisson, H.; Matos Figueiredo, D.; Mundim, L.; Nogima, H.; Prado da Silva, W. L.; Santoro, A.; Sznajder, A.; Tonelli Manganote, E. J.; Vilela Pereira, A.; Ahuja, S.; Bernardes, C. A.; de Souza Santos, A.; Dogra, S.; Fernandez Perez Tomei, T. R.; Gregores, E. M.; Mercadante, P. G.; Moon, C. S.; Novaes, S. F.; Padula, Sandra S.; Romero Abad, D.; Ruiz Vargas, J. C.; Aleksandrov, A.; Hadjiiska, R.; Iaydjiev, P.; Rodozov, M.; Stoykova, S.; Sultanov, G.; Vutova, M.; Dimitrov, A.; Glushkov, I.; Litov, L.; Pavlov, B.; Petkov, P.; Ahmad, M.; Bian, J. G.; Chen, G. M.; Chen, H. S.; Chen, M.; Cheng, T.; Du, R.; Jiang, C. H.; Plestina, R.; Romeo, F.; Shaheen, S. M.; Tao, J.; Wang, C.; Wang, Z.; Zhang, H.; Asawatangtrakuldee, C.; Ban, Y.; Li, Q.; Liu, S.; Mao, Y.; Qian, S. J.; Wang, D.; Xu, Z.; Avila, C.; Cabrera, A.; Chaparro Sierra, L. F.; Florez, C.; Gomez, J. P.; Gomez Moreno, B.; Sanabria, J. C.; Godinovic, N.; Lelas, D.; Puljak, I.; Ribeiro Cipriano, P. M.; Antunovic, Z.; Kovac, M.; Brigljevic, V.; Kadija, K.; Luetic, J.; Micanovic, S.; Sudic, L.; Attikis, A.; Mavromanolakis, G.; Mousa, J.; Nicolaou, C.; Ptochos, F.; Razis, P. A.; Rykaczewski, H.; Bodlak, M.; Finger, M.; Finger, M.; El Sawy, M.; El-Khateeb, E.; Elkafrawy, T.; Mohamed, A.; Salama, E.; Calpas, B.; Kadastik, M.; Murumaa, M.; Raidal, M.; Tiko, A.; Veelken, C.; Eerola, P.; Pekkanen, J.; Voutilainen, M.; Härkönen, J.; Karimäki, V.; Kinnunen, R.; Lampén, T.; Lassila-Perini, K.; Lehti, S.; Lindén, T.; Luukka, P.; Mäenpää, T.; Peltola, T.; Tuominen, E.; Tuominiemi, J.; Tuovinen, E.; Wendland, L.; Talvitie, J.; Tuuva, T.; Besancon, M.; Couderc, F.; Dejardin, M.; Denegri, D.; Fabbro, B.; Faure, J. L.; Favaro, C.; Ferri, F.; Ganjour, S.; Givernaud, A.; Gras, P.; Hamel de Monchenault, G.; Jarry, P.; Locci, E.; Machet, M.; Malcles, J.; Rander, J.; Rosowsky, A.; Titov, M.; Zghiche, A.; Antropov, I.; Baffioni, S.; Beaudette, F.; Busson, P.; Cadamuro, L.; Chapon, E.; Charlot, C.; Dahms, T.; Davignon, O.; Filipovic, N.; Florent, A.; Granier de Cassagnac, R.; Lisniak, S.; Mastrolorenzo, L.; Miné, P.; Naranjo, I. N.; Nguyen, M.; Ochando, C.; Ortona, G.; Paganini, P.; Pigard, P.; Regnard, S.; Salerno, R.; Sauvan, J. B.; Sirois, Y.; Strebler, T.; Yilmaz, Y.; Zabi, A.; Agram, J.-L.; Andrea, J.; Aubin, A.; Bloch, D.; Brom, J.-M.; Buttignol, M.; Chabert, E. C.; Chanon, N.; Collard, C.; Conte, E.; Coubez, X.; Fontaine, J.-C.; Gelé, D.; Goerlach, U.; Goetzmann, C.; Le Bihan, A.-C.; Merlin, J. A.; Skovpen, K.; van Hove, P.; Gadrat, S.; Beauceron, S.; Bernet, C.; Boudoul, G.; Bouvier, E.; Carrillo Montoya, C. A.; Chierici, R.; Contardo, D.; Courbon, B.; Depasse, P.; El Mamouni, H.; Fan, J.; Fay, J.; Gascon, S.; Gouzevitch, M.; Ille, B.; Lagarde, F.; Laktineh, I. B.; Lethuillier, M.; Mirabito, L.; Pequegnot, A. L.; Perries, S.; Ruiz Alvarez, J. D.; Sabes, D.; Sgandurra, L.; Sordini, V.; Vander Donckt, M.; Verdier, P.; Viret, S.; Toriashvili, T.; Lomidze, D.; Autermann, C.; Beranek, S.; Edelhoff, M.; Feld, L.; Heister, A.; Kiesel, M. K.; Klein, K.; Lipinski, M.; Ostapchuk, A.; Preuten, M.; Raupach, F.; Schael, S.; Schulte, J. F.; Verlage, T.; Weber, H.; Wittmer, B.; Zhukov, V.; Ata, M.; Brodski, M.; Dietz-Laursonn, E.; Duchardt, D.; Endres, M.; Erdmann, M.; Erdweg, S.; Esch, T.; Fischer, R.; Güth, A.; Hebbeker, T.; Heidemann, C.; Hoepfner, K.; Klingebiel, D.; Knutzen, S.; Kreuzer, P.; Merschmeyer, M.; Meyer, A.; Millet, P.; Olschewski, M.; Padeken, K.; Papacz, P.; Pook, T.; Radziej, M.; Reithler, H.; Rieger, M.; Scheuch, F.; Sonnenschein, L.; Teyssier, D.; Thüer, S.; Cherepanov, V.; Erdogan, Y.; Flügge, G.; Geenen, H.; Geisler, M.; Hoehle, F.; Kargoll, B.; Kress, T.; Kuessel, Y.; Künsken, A.; Lingemann, J.; Nehrkorn, A.; Nowack, A.; Nugent, I. M.; Pistone, C.; Pooth, O.; Stahl, A.; Aldaya Martin, M.; Asin, I.; Bartosik, N.; Behnke, O.; Behrens, U.; Bell, A. J.; Borras, K.; Burgmeier, A.; Cakir, A.; Calligaris, L.; Campbell, A.; Choudhury, S.; Costanza, F.; Diez Pardos, C.; Dolinska, G.; Dooling, S.; Dorland, T.; Eckerlin, G.; Eckstein, D.; Eichhorn, T.; Flucke, G.; Gallo, E.; Garay Garcia, J.; Geiser, A.; Gizhko, A.; Gunnellini, P.; Hauk, J.; Hempel, M.; Jung, H.; Kalogeropoulos, A.; Karacheban, O.; Kasemann, M.; Katsas, P.; Kieseler, J.; Kleinwort, C.; Korol, I.; Lange, W.; Leonard, J.; Lipka, K.; Lobanov, A.; Lohmann, W.; Mankel, R.; Marfin, I.; Melzer-Pellmann, I.-A.; Meyer, A. B.; Mittag, G.; Mnich, J.; Mussgiller, A.; Naumann-Emme, S.; Nayak, A.; Ntomari, E.; Perrey, H.; Pitzl, D.; Placakyte, R.; Raspereza, A.; Roland, B.; Sahin, M. Ö.; Saxena, P.; Schoerner-Sadenius, T.; Schröder, M.; Seitz, C.; Spannagel, S.; Trippkewitz, K. D.; Walsh, R.; Wissing, C.; Blobel, V.; Centis Vignali, M.; Draeger, A. R.; Erfle, J.; Garutti, E.; Goebel, K.; Gonzalez, D.; Görner, M.; Haller, J.; Hoffmann, M.; Höing, R. S.; Junkes, A.; Klanner, R.; Kogler, R.; Lapsien, T.; Lenz, T.; Marchesini, I.; Marconi, D.; Meyer, M.; Nowatschin, D.; Ott, J.; Pantaleo, F.; Peiffer, T.; Perieanu, A.; Pietsch, N.; Poehlsen, J.; Rathjens, D.; Sander, C.; Schettler, H.; Schleper, P.; Schlieckau, E.; Schmidt, A.; Schwandt, J.; Seidel, M.; Sola, V.; Stadie, H.; Steinbrück, G.; Tholen, H.; Troendle, D.; Usai, E.; Vanelderen, L.; Vanhoefer, A.; Vormwald, B.; Akbiyik, M.; Barth, C.; Baus, C.; Berger, J.; Böser, C.; Butz, E.; Chwalek, T.; Colombo, F.; de Boer, W.; Descroix, A.; Dierlamm, A.; Fink, S.; Frensch, F.; Giffels, M.; Gilbert, A.; Hartmann, F.; Heindl, S. M.; Husemann, U.; Katkov, I.; Kornmayer, A.; Lobelle Pardo, P.; Maier, B.; Mildner, H.; Mozer, M. U.; Müller, T.; Müller, Th.; Plagge, M.; Quast, G.; Rabbertz, K.; Röcker, S.; Roscher, F.; Simonis, H. J.; Stober, F. 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M.; Lanza, G.; Lista, L.; Meola, S.; Merola, M.; Paolucci, P.; Sciacca, C.; Thyssen, F.; Azzi, P.; Bacchetta, N.; Benato, L.; Bisello, D.; Boletti, A.; Branca, A.; Carlin, R.; Checchia, P.; Dall'Osso, M.; Dorigo, T.; Dosselli, U.; Gasparini, F.; Gasparini, U.; Gozzelino, A.; Lacaprara, S.; Margoni, M.; Meneguzzo, A. T.; Passaseo, M.; Pazzini, J.; Pegoraro, M.; Pozzobon, N.; Ronchese, P.; Simonetto, F.; Torassa, E.; Tosi, M.; Zanetti, M.; Zotto, P.; Zucchetta, A.; Zumerle, G.; Braghieri, A.; Magnani, A.; Montagna, P.; Ratti, S. P.; Re, V.; Riccardi, C.; Salvini, P.; Vai, I.; Vitulo, P.; Alunni Solestizi, L.; Biasini, M.; Bilei, G. M.; Ciangottini, D.; Fanò, L.; Lariccia, P.; Mantovani, G.; Menichelli, M.; Saha, A.; Santocchia, A.; Spiezia, A.; Androsov, K.; Azzurri, P.; Bagliesi, G.; Bernardini, J.; Boccali, T.; Broccolo, G.; Castaldi, R.; Ciocci, M. A.; Dell'Orso, R.; Donato, S.; Fedi, G.; Foà, L.; Giassi, A.; Grippo, M. T.; Ligabue, F.; Lomtadze, T.; Martini, L.; Messineo, A.; Palla, F.; Rizzi, A.; Savoy-Navarro, A.; Serban, A. T.; Spagnolo, P.; Squillacioti, P.; Tenchini, R.; Tonelli, G.; Venturi, A.; Verdini, P. G.; Barone, L.; Cavallari, F.; D'Imperio, G.; Del Re, D.; Diemoz, M.; Gelli, S.; Jorda, C.; Longo, E.; Margaroli, F.; Meridiani, P.; Organtini, G.; Paramatti, R.; Preiato, F.; Rahatlou, S.; Rovelli, C.; Santanastasio, F.; Traczyk, P.; Amapane, N.; Arcidiacono, R.; Argiro, S.; Arneodo, M.; Bellan, R.; Biino, C.; Cartiglia, N.; Costa, M.; Covarelli, R.; Degano, A.; Demaria, N.; Finco, L.; Kiani, B.; Mariotti, C.; Maselli, S.; Migliore, E.; Monaco, V.; Monteil, E.; Musich, M.; Obertino, M. M.; Pacher, L.; Pastrone, N.; Pelliccioni, M.; Pinna Angioni, G. 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V.; Baskakov, A.; Belyaev, A.; Boos, E.; Bunichev, V.; Dubinin, M.; Dudko, L.; Ershov, A.; Gribushin, A.; Klyukhin, V.; Korneeva, N.; Lokhtin, I.; Myagkov, I.; Obraztsov, S.; Perfilov, M.; Savrin, V.; Azhgirey, I.; Bayshev, I.; Bitioukov, S.; Kachanov, V.; Kalinin, A.; Konstantinov, D.; Krychkine, V.; Petrov, V.; Ryutin, R.; Sobol, A.; Tourtchanovitch, L.; Troshin, S.; Tyurin, N.; Uzunian, A.; Volkov, A.; Adzic, P.; Milosevic, J.; Rekovic, V.; Alcaraz Maestre, J.; Calvo, E.; Cerrada, M.; Chamizo Llatas, M.; Colino, N.; de La Cruz, B.; Delgado Peris, A.; Domínguez Vázquez, D.; Escalante Del Valle, A.; Fernandez Bedoya, C.; Fernández Ramos, J. P.; Flix, J.; Fouz, M. C.; Garcia-Abia, P.; Gonzalez Lopez, O.; Goy Lopez, S.; Hernandez, J. M.; Josa, M. I.; Navarro de Martino, E.; Pérez-Calero Yzquierdo, A.; Puerta Pelayo, J.; Quintario Olmeda, A.; Redondo, I.; Romero, L.; Santaolalla, J.; Soares, M. S.; Albajar, C.; de Trocóniz, J. 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V.; Neugebauer, H.; Orfanelli, S.; Orsini, L.; Pape, L.; Perez, E.; Peruzzi, M.; Petrilli, A.; Petrucciani, G.; Pfeiffer, A.; Piparo, D.; Racz, A.; Rolandi, G.; Rovere, M.; Ruan, M.; Sakulin, H.; Schäfer, C.; Schwick, C.; Sharma, A.; Silva, P.; Simon, M.; Sphicas, P.; Spiga, D.; Steggemann, J.; Stieger, B.; Stoye, M.; Takahashi, Y.; Treille, D.; Triossi, A.; Tsirou, A.; Veres, G. I.; Wardle, N.; Wöhri, H. K.; Zagozdzinska, A.; Zeuner, W. D.; Bertl, W.; Deiters, K.; Erdmann, W.; Horisberger, R.; Ingram, Q.; Kaestli, H. C.; Kotlinski, D.; Langenegger, U.; Renker, D.; Rohe, T.; Bachmair, F.; Bäni, L.; Bianchini, L.; Buchmann, M. A.; Casal, B.; Dissertori, G.; Dittmar, M.; Donegà, M.; Eller, P.; Grab, C.; Heidegger, C.; Hits, D.; Hoss, J.; Kasieczka, G.; Lustermann, W.; Mangano, B.; Marionneau, M.; Martinez Ruiz Del Arbol, P.; Masciovecchio, M.; Meister, D.; Micheli, F.; Musella, P.; Nessi-Tedaldi, F.; Pandolfi, F.; Pata, J.; Pauss, F.; Perrozzi, L.; Quittnat, M.; Rossini, M.; Starodumov, A.; Takahashi, M.; Tavolaro, V. R.; Theofilatos, K.; Wallny, R.; Aarrestad, T. K.; Amsler, C.; Caminada, L.; Canelli, M. F.; Chiochia, V.; de Cosa, A.; Galloni, C.; Hinzmann, A.; Hreus, T.; Kilminster, B.; Lange, C.; Ngadiuba, J.; Pinna, D.; Robmann, P.; Ronga, F. J.; Salerno, D.; Yang, Y.; Cardaci, M.; Chen, K. H.; Doan, T. H.; Jain, Sh.; Khurana, R.; Konyushikhin, M.; Kuo, C. M.; Lin, W.; Lu, Y. J.; Yu, S. S.; Kumar, Arun; Bartek, R.; Chang, P.; Chang, Y. H.; Chang, Y. W.; Chao, Y.; Chen, K. F.; Chen, P. H.; Dietz, C.; Fiori, F.; Grundler, U.; Hou, W.-S.; Hsiung, Y.; Liu, Y. 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I.; Henderson, C.; Rumerio, P.; Avetisyan, A.; Bose, T.; Fantasia, C.; Gastler, D.; Lawson, P.; Rankin, D.; Richardson, C.; Rohlf, J.; John, J. St.; Sulak, L.; Zou, D.; Alimena, J.; Berry, E.; Bhattacharya, S.; Cutts, D.; Dhingra, N.; Ferapontov, A.; Garabedian, A.; Hakala, J.; Heintz, U.; Laird, E.; Landsberg, G.; Mao, Z.; Narain, M.; Piperov, S.; Sagir, S.; Sinthuprasith, T.; Syarif, R.; Breedon, R.; Breto, G.; Calderon de La Barca Sanchez, M.; Chauhan, S.; Chertok, M.; Conway, J.; Conway, R.; Cox, P. T.; Erbacher, R.; Gardner, M.; Ko, W.; Lander, R.; Mulhearn, M.; Pellett, D.; Pilot, J.; Ricci-Tam, F.; Shalhout, S.; Smith, J.; Squires, M.; Stolp, D.; Tripathi, M.; Wilbur, S.; Yohay, R.; Cousins, R.; Everaerts, P.; Farrell, C.; Hauser, J.; Ignatenko, M.; Saltzberg, D.; Takasugi, E.; Valuev, V.; Weber, M.; Burt, K.; Clare, R.; Ellison, J.; Gary, J. W.; Hanson, G.; Heilman, J.; Ivova Paneva, M.; Jandir, P.; Kennedy, E.; Lacroix, F.; Long, O. R.; Luthra, A.; Malberti, M.; Olmedo Negrete, M.; Shrinivas, A.; Wei, H.; Wimpenny, S.; Yates, B. R.; Branson, J. G.; Cerati, G. B.; Cittolin, S.; D'Agnolo, R. T.; Holzner, A.; Kelley, R.; Klein, D.; Letts, J.; MacNeill, I.; Olivito, D.; Padhi, S.; Pieri, M.; Sani, M.; Sharma, V.; Simon, S.; Tadel, M.; Vartak, A.; Wasserbaech, S.; Welke, C.; Würthwein, F.; Yagil, A.; Zevi Della Porta, G.; Barge, D.; Bradmiller-Feld, J.; Campagnari, C.; Dishaw, A.; Dutta, V.; Flowers, K.; Franco Sevilla, M.; Geffert, P.; George, C.; Golf, F.; Gouskos, L.; Gran, J.; Incandela, J.; Justus, C.; McColl, N.; Mullin, S. D.; Richman, J.; Stuart, D.; Suarez, I.; To, W.; West, C.; Yoo, J.; Anderson, D.; Apresyan, A.; Bornheim, A.; Bunn, J.; Chen, Y.; Duarte, J.; Mott, A.; Newman, H. B.; Pena, C.; Pierini, M.; Spiropulu, M.; Vlimant, J. R.; Xie, S.; Zhu, R. Y.; Andrews, M. B.; Azzolini, V.; Calamba, A.; Carlson, B.; Ferguson, T.; Paulini, M.; Russ, J.; Sun, M.; Vogel, H.; Vorobiev, I.; Cumalat, J. P.; Ford, W. T.; Gaz, A.; Jensen, F.; Johnson, A.; Krohn, M.; Mulholland, T.; Nauenberg, U.; Stenson, K.; Wagner, S. R.; Alexander, J.; Chatterjee, A.; Chaves, J.; Chu, J.; Dittmer, S.; Eggert, N.; Mirman, N.; Nicolas Kaufman, G.; Patterson, J. R.; Rinkevicius, A.; Ryd, A.; Skinnari, L.; Soffi, L.; Sun, W.; Tan, S. M.; Teo, W. D.; Thom, J.; Thompson, J.; Tucker, J.; Weng, Y.; Wittich, P.; Abdullin, S.; Albrow, M.; Anderson, J.; Apollinari, G.; Banerjee, S.; Bauerdick, L. A. T.; Beretvas, A.; Berryhill, J.; Bhat, P. C.; Bolla, G.; Burkett, K.; Butler, J. N.; Cheung, H. W. K.; Chlebana, F.; Cihangir, S.; Elvira, V. D.; Fisk, I.; Freeman, J.; Gottschalk, E.; Gray, L.; Green, D.; Grünendahl, S.; Gutsche, O.; Hanlon, J.; Hare, D.; Harris, R. M.; Hasegawa, S.; Hirschauer, J.; Hu, Z.; Jindariani, S.; Johnson, M.; Joshi, U.; Jung, A. W.; Klima, B.; Kreis, B.; Kwan, S.; Lammel, S.; Linacre, J.; Lincoln, D.; Lipton, R.; Liu, T.; Lopes de Sá, R.; Lykken, J.; Maeshima, K.; Marraffino, J. M.; Martinez Outschoorn, V. I.; Maruyama, S.; Mason, D.; McBride, P.; Merkel, P.; Mishra, K.; Mrenna, S.; Nahn, S.; Newman-Holmes, C.; O'Dell, V.; Pedro, K.; Prokofyev, O.; Rakness, G.; Sexton-Kennedy, E.; Soha, A.; Spalding, W. J.; Spiegel, L.; Taylor, L.; Tkaczyk, S.; Tran, N. V.; Uplegger, L.; Vaandering, E. W.; Vernieri, C.; Verzocchi, M.; Vidal, R.; Weber, H. A.; Whitbeck, A.; Yang, F.; Acosta, D.; Avery, P.; Bortignon, P.; Bourilkov, D.; Carnes, A.; Carver, M.; Curry, D.; Das, S.; di Giovanni, G. P.; Field, R. D.; Furic, I. K.; Hugon, J.; Konigsberg, J.; Korytov, A.; Low, J. F.; Ma, P.; Matchev, K.; Mei, H.; Milenovic, P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Rank, D.; Rossin, R.; Shchutska, L.; Snowball, M.; Sperka, D.; Terentyev, N.; Thomas, L.; Wang, J.; Wang, S.; Yelton, J.; Hewamanage, S.; Linn, S.; Markowitz, P.; Martinez, G.; Rodriguez, J. L.; Ackert, A.; Adams, J. R.; Adams, T.; Askew, A.; Bochenek, J.; Diamond, B.; Haas, J.; Hagopian, S.; Hagopian, V.; Johnson, K. F.; Khatiwada, A.; Prosper, H.; Weinberg, M.; Baarmand, M. M.; Bhopatkar, V.; Colafranceschi, S.; Hohlmann, M.; Kalakhety, H.; Noonan, D.; Roy, T.; Yumiceva, F.; Adams, M. R.; Apanasevich, L.; Berry, D.; Betts, R. R.; Bucinskaite, I.; Cavanaugh, R.; Evdokimov, O.; Gauthier, L.; Gerber, C. E.; Hofman, D. J.; Kurt, P.; O'Brien, C.; Sandoval Gonzalez, I. D.; Silkworth, C.; Turner, P.; Varelas, N.; Wu, Z.; Zakaria, M.; Bilki, B.; Clarida, W.; Dilsiz, K.; Durgut, S.; Gandrajula, R. P.; Haytmyradov, M.; Khristenko, V.; Merlo, J.-P.; Mermerkaya, H.; Mestvirishvili, A.; Moeller, A.; Nachtman, J.; Ogul, H.; Onel, Y.; Ozok, F.; Penzo, A.; Snyder, C.; Tan, P.; Tiras, E.; Wetzel, J.; Yi, K.; Anderson, I.; Barnett, B. A.; Blumenfeld, B.; Eminizer, N.; Fehling, D.; Feng, L.; Gritsan, A. V.; Maksimovic, P.; Martin, C.; Osherson, M.; Roskes, J.; Sady, A.; Sarica, U.; Swartz, M.; Xiao, M.; Xin, Y.; You, C.; Baringer, P.; Bean, A.; Benelli, G.; Bruner, C.; Kenny, R. P.; Majumder, D.; Malek, M.; Murray, M.; Sanders, S.; Stringer, R.; Wang, Q.; Ivanov, A.; Kaadze, K.; Khalil, S.; Makouski, M.; Maravin, Y.; Mohammadi, A.; Saini, L. K.; Skhirtladze, N.; Toda, S.; Lange, D.; Rebassoo, F.; Wright, D.; Anelli, C.; Baden, A.; Baron, O.; Belloni, A.; Calvert, B.; Eno, S. C.; Ferraioli, C.; Gomez, J. A.; Hadley, N. J.; Jabeen, S.; Kellogg, R. G.; Kolberg, T.; Kunkle, J.; Lu, Y.; Mignerey, A. C.; Shin, Y. H.; Skuja, A.; Tonjes, M. B.; Tonwar, S. C.; Apyan, A.; Barbieri, R.; Baty, A.; Bierwagen, K.; Brandt, S.; Busza, W.; Cali, I. A.; Demiragli, Z.; Di Matteo, L.; Gomez Ceballos, G.; Goncharov, M.; Gulhan, D.; Iiyama, Y.; Innocenti, G. M.; Klute, M.; Kovalskyi, D.; Lai, Y. S.; Lee, Y.-J.; Levin, A.; Luckey, P. D.; Marini, A. C.; McGinn, C.; Mironov, C.; Niu, X.; Paus, C.; Ralph, D.; Roland, C.; Roland, G.; Salfeld-Nebgen, J.; Stephans, G. S. F.; Sumorok, K.; Varma, M.; Velicanu, D.; Veverka, J.; Wang, J.; Wang, T. W.; Wyslouch, B.; Yang, M.; Zhukova, V.; Dahmes, B.; Evans, A.; Finkel, A.; Gude, A.; Hansen, P.; Kalafut, S.; Kao, S. C.; Klapoetke, K.; Kubota, Y.; Lesko, Z.; Mans, J.; Nourbakhsh, S.; Ruckstuhl, N.; Rusack, R.; Tambe, N.; Turkewitz, J.; Acosta, J. G.; Oliveros, S.; Avdeeva, E.; Bloom, K.; Bose, S.; Claes, D. R.; Dominguez, A.; Fangmeier, C.; Gonzalez Suarez, R.; Kamalieddin, R.; Keller, J.; Knowlton, D.; Kravchenko, I.; Lazo-Flores, J.; Meier, F.; Monroy, J.; Ratnikov, F.; Siado, J. E.; Snow, G. R.; Alyari, M.; Dolen, J.; George, J.; Godshalk, A.; Harrington, C.; Iashvili, I.; Kaisen, J.; Kharchilava, A.; Kumar, A.; Rappoccio, S.; Alverson, G.; Barberis, E.; Baumgartel, D.; Chasco, M.; Hortiangtham, A.; Massironi, A.; Morse, D. M.; Nash, D.; Orimoto, T.; Teixeira de Lima, R.; Trocino, D.; Wang, R.-J.; Wood, D.; Zhang, J.; Hahn, K. A.; Kubik, A.; Mucia, N.; Odell, N.; Pollack, B.; Pozdnyakov, A.; Schmitt, M.; Stoynev, S.; Sung, K.; Trovato, M.; Velasco, M.; Brinkerhoff, A.; Dev, N.; Hildreth, M.; Jessop, C.; Karmgard, D. J.; Kellams, N.; Lannon, K.; Lynch, S.; Marinelli, N.; Meng, F.; Mueller, C.; Musienko, Y.; Pearson, T.; Planer, M.; Reinsvold, A.; Ruchti, R.; Smith, G.; Taroni, S.; Valls, N.; Wayne, M.; Wolf, M.; Woodard, A.; Antonelli, L.; Brinson, J.; Bylsma, B.; Durkin, L. S.; Flowers, S.; Hart, A.; Hill, C.; Hughes, R.; Ji, W.; Kotov, K.; Ling, T. Y.; Liu, B.; Luo, W.; Puigh, D.; Rodenburg, M.; Winer, B. L.; Wulsin, H. W.; Driga, O.; Elmer, P.; Hardenbrook, J.; Hebda, P.; Koay, S. A.; Lujan, P.; Marlow, D.; Medvedeva, T.; Mooney, M.; Olsen, J.; Palmer, C.; Piroué, P.; Quan, X.; Saka, H.; Stickland, D.; Tully, C.; Werner, J. S.; Zuranski, A.; Malik, S.; Barnes, V. E.; Benedetti, D.; Bortoletto, D.; Gutay, L.; Jha, M. K.; Jones, M.; Jung, K.; Miller, D. H.; Neumeister, N.; Radburn-Smith, B. C.; Shi, X.; Shipsey, I.; Silvers, D.; Sun, J.; Svyatkovskiy, A.; Wang, F.; Xie, W.; Xu, L.; Parashar, N.; Stupak, J.; Adair, A.; Akgun, B.; Chen, Z.; Ecklund, K. M.; Geurts, F. J. M.; Guilbaud, M.; Li, W.; Michlin, B.; Northup, M.; Padley, B. P.; Redjimi, R.; Roberts, J.; Rorie, J.; Tu, Z.; Zabel, J.; Betchart, B.; Bodek, A.; de Barbaro, P.; Demina, R.; Eshaq, Y.; Ferbel, T.; Galanti, M.; Garcia-Bellido, A.; Han, J.; Harel, A.; Hindrichs, O.; Khukhunaishvili, A.; Petrillo, G.; Verzetti, M.; Arora, S.; Barker, A.; Chou, J. P.; Contreras-Campana, C.; Contreras-Campana, E.; Duggan, D.; Ferencek, D.; Gershtein, Y.; Gray, R.; Halkiadakis, E.; Hidas, D.; Hughes, E.; Kaplan, S.; Kunnawalkam Elayavalli, R.; Lath, A.; Nash, K.; Panwalkar, S.; Park, M.; Salur, S.; Schnetzer, S.; Sheffield, D.; Somalwar, S.; Stone, R.; Thomas, S.; Thomassen, P.; Walker, M.; Foerster, M.; Riley, G.; Rose, K.; Spanier, S.; York, A.; Bouhali, O.; Castaneda Hernandez, A.; Dalchenko, M.; de Mattia, M.; Delgado, A.; Dildick, S.; Eusebi, R.; Flanagan, W.; Gilmore, J.; Kamon, T.; Krutelyov, V.; Mueller, R.; Osipenkov, I.; Pakhotin, Y.; Patel, R.; Perloff, A.; Rose, A.; Safonov, A.; Tatarinov, A.; Ulmer, K. A.; Akchurin, N.; Cowden, C.; Damgov, J.; Dragoiu, C.; Dudero, P. R.; Faulkner, J.; Kunori, S.; Lamichhane, K.; Lee, S. W.; Libeiro, T.; Undleeb, S.; Volobouev, I.; Appelt, E.; Delannoy, A. G.; Greene, S.; Gurrola, A.; Janjam, R.; Johns, W.; Maguire, C.; Mao, Y.; Melo, A.; Ni, H.; Sheldon, P.; Snook, B.; Tuo, S.; Velkovska, J.; Xu, Q.; Arenton, M. W.; Boutle, S.; Cox, B.; Francis, B.; Goodell, J.; Hirosky, R.; Ledovskoy, A.; Li, H.; Lin, C.; Neu, C.; Sun, X.; Wang, Y.; Wolfe, E.; Wood, J.; Xia, F.; Clarke, C.; Harr, R.; Karchin, P. E.; Kottachchi Kankanamge Don, C.; Lamichhane, P.; Sturdy, J.; Belknap, D. A.; Carlsmith, D.; Cepeda, M.; Christian, A.; Dasu, S.; Dodd, L.; Duric, S.; Friis, E.; Gomber, B.; Grothe, M.; Hall-Wilton, R.; Herndon, M.; Hervé, A.; Klabbers, P.; Lanaro, A.; Levine, A.; Long, K.; Loveless, R.; Mohapatra, A.; Ojalvo, I.; Perry, T.; Pierro, G. A.; Polese, G.; Ruggles, T.; Sarangi, T.; Savin, A.; Sharma, A.; Smith, N.; Smith, W. H.; Taylor, D.; Woods, N.

2016-04-01

The result of a search for flavor changing neutral currents (FCNC) through single top quark production in association with a photon is presented. The study is based on proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV using data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.8 fb-1. The search for tγ events where t → Wb and W → μν is conducted in final states with a muon, a photon, at least one hadronic jet with at most one being consistent with originating from a bottom quark, and missing transverse momentum. No evidence of single top quark production in association with a photon through a FCNC is observed. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level are set on the tuγ and tcγ anomalous couplings and translated into upper limits on the branching fraction of the FCNC top quark decays: ℬ(t → u γ) < 1.3 × 10- 4 and ℬ(t → c γ) < 1.7 × 10- 3. Upper limits are also set on the cross section of associated tγ production in a restricted phase-space region. These are the most stringent limits currently available. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Incidence of upper tract abnormalities in patients with neurovesical dysfunction secondary to multiple sclerosis: analysis of risk factors at initial urologic evaluation.

PubMed

Lemack, Gary E; Hawker, Kathleen; Frohman, Elliot

2005-05-01

To determine the incidence of upper tract abnormalities on renal ultrasonography in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) referred for urologic evaluation, as well as to identify any risk factors present on the basis of the historical information and urodynamic findings. Data were derived from all patients with MS referred to the neurourology clinic during a 4-year period. The database was specifically queried for patients found to have upper tract abnormalities on screening renal ultrasonography. Demographic parameters, as well as laboratory values (creatinine) and urodynamic results, were evaluated for risk factors associated with abnormal upper tract findings. Of the 113 patients referred and evaluated, 66 completed both urodynamic testing and renal ultrasonography. Eleven (16.7%) had abnormal ultrasound findings, with focal caliectasis the most common finding. No demographic parameter (age, sex, time since MS diagnosis, MS pattern) was associated with a greater likelihood of abnormal renal ultrasonography on univariate analysis. Neither serum creatinine nor any urodynamic finding (including the presence of dyssynergia or the threshold and amplitude of detrusor overactivity) was associated with abnormal renal ultrasound findings. No patients in our series had any indication of obstructive uropathy more severe than mild hydronephrosis. Of the 16.7% of patients with any abnormal findings, most were noted to have minor caliectasis, likely to be of little clinical significance. Although no factors identifying patients at risk of renal abnormalities at presentation were found, ongoing evaluation of patients with baseline findings will serve to identify those at risk of progression.

Microfibrillar-associated protein 4 variation in symptomatic peripheral artery disease.

PubMed

Hemstra, Line Ea; Schlosser, Anders; Lindholt, Jes Sanddal; Sorensen, Grith L

2018-06-08

Symptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD) is an atherosclerotic occlusive disease affecting the lower extremities. The cause of symptomatic PAD is atherosclerosis, vascular dysfunctions, impaired angiogenesis and neointima formation. Microfibrillar-associated protein 4 (MFAP4) is an extracellular matrix protein, which is highly expressed in the heart and arteries and recently introduced as a potential mediator of pathological vascular remodeling and neointima formation. We aimed to investigate the relationship between serum MFAP4 (sMFAP4) and symptomatic PAD outcomes. A total of 286 PAD patients were analyzed if they had either intermittent claudication or critical lower-extremity ischemia (CLI) and followed for 7 years. The level of serum MFAP4 (sMFAP4) was measured by alphaLISA. Kaplan-Meier, Cox proportional hazard and logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the associations between upper tertile sMFAP4 and symptomatic PAD outcomes. Patients with upper tertile sMFAP4 had an odds ratio (OR) of 2.65 (p < 0.001) for having CLI diagnosis. Further analysis indicated that patients with upper tertile sMFAP4 had a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.97 (p = 0.04) for cardiovascular death during the 7-years follow-up. However, analysis of 2-year primary patency showed that patients with upper tertile sMFAP4 had decreased risk of vascular occlusion after reconstructive surgery with HR of 0.15 (p = 0.02). sMFAP4 has potential as a prognostic marker for cardiovascular death, primary patency of reconstructed vessels and CLI diagnosis in symptomatic PAD patients. Confirmation of observations in larger cohorts is warranted.

Conversion to full sternotomy during minimal-access cardiac surgery: reasons and results during a 9.5-year experience.

PubMed

Tabata, Minoru; Umakanthan, Ramanan; Khalpey, Zain; Aranki, Sary F; Couper, Gregory S; Cohn, Lawrence H; Shekar, Prem S

2007-07-01

A hemisternotomy approach to minimal-access cardiac surgery is associated with a faster postoperative recovery because of reduced postoperative pain and improved respiratory function. Conversion to a full sternotomy is occasionally required for reasons that remain inadequately reported. Between January 1996 and June 2005, 907 cardiac surgical patients were planned for an upper hemisternotomy and 528 for a lower hemisternotomy. We retrospectively reviewed 45 patients who required conversion to a full sternotomy. Twenty-four (2.6%) of 907 patients required a conversion from upper hemisternotomy because of bleeding (n = 8), ventricular dysfunction (n = 5), refractory ventricular arrhythmia (n = 3), poor exposure (n = 2), and other causes (n = 6). Eight (33.3%) of 24 patients died perioperatively. Of the 883 patients who went on to have an operation through the upper hemisternotomy approach, the mortality was 1.7% (15/883). Twenty-one (4.0%) of 528 patients required conversion from a lower hemisternotomy because of poor exposure (n = 16), bleeding (n = 1), refractory ventricular arrhythmia (n = 3), and a retained venous cannula (n = 1). None of these patients died postoperatively. Of the 507 patients who went on to have an operation through the lower hemisternotomy approach, the mortality was 1.2% (6/507). Conversion to a full sternotomy occurs infrequently during minimal-access cardiac surgery. Upper hemisternotomy conversions are usually urgent after crossclamp removal and are often associated with serious morbidity and mortality. Conversely, lower hemisternotomy conversions are performed electively in the prebypass period because of poor exposure and are not associated with complications.

[Training, the key to improving eHealth literacy of upper secondary school students].

PubMed

Hernández-Rabanal, Carme; Vall, Aurora; Boter, Clara

To explore whether training on strategies to identify and assess health-related information online has a positive impact on students' perception of their own eHealth literacy. The validated eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) was administered to a sample of upper secondary school students, aged 15-18. One week later, they attended a training session on how to search and identify reliable health-related information and resources online. The eHEALS was administered again at the end of this session. Information about gender and school year was collected in both sessions. Perceived eHealth literacy was assessed by comparing the scores obtained before and after the session. Bivariate and multiple linear regressions were completed. Of the 298 students enrolled in upper secondary school (Bachillerato), 285 were included in the study. Approximately 52.28% (149) were female, and 47.72% (136) were male. The mean eHEALS score before the session was 24.19 (range: 8-40), and was 28.54 after it. The training was associated with higher perceived eHealth literacy scores (p <0,0001). Health literacy was positively associated with the usefulness and importance students give the Internet. Attendance at a training session on strategies to identify and assess health-related resources online is associated with higher levels of perceived eHealth literacy. Implementing specific training sessions on eHealth literacy in upper secondary school is a promising approach for enhancing students' eHealth literacy. Copyright © 2017 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The relationships between height and arm span, mid-upper arm and waist circumferences and sum of four skinfolds in Ellisras rural children aged 8-18 years.

PubMed

Monyeki, Kotsedi Daniel; Sekhotha, Michael Matome

2016-05-01

Height is required for the assessment of growth and nutritional status, as well as for predictions and standardization of physiological parameters. To determine whether arm span, mid-upper arm and waist circumferences and sum of four skinfolds can be used to predict height, the relationships between these anthropometric variables were assessed among Ellisras rural children aged 8-18 years. The following parameters were measured according to the International Society for the Advancement of Kinathropometry: height, arm span, mid-upper arm circumference, waist circumference and four skinfolds (suprailiac, subscapular, triceps and biceps). Associations between the variables were assessed using Pearson correlation coefficients and linear regression models. Ellisras Longitudinal Study (ELS), Limpopo Province, South Africa. Boys (n 911) and girls (n 858) aged 8-18 years. Mean height was higher than arm span, with differences ranging from 4 cm to 11·5 cm between boys and girls. The correlation between height and arm span was high (ranging from 0·74 to 0·91) with P<0·001. The correlation between height and mid-upper arm circumference, waist circumference and sum of four skinfolds was low (ranging from 0·15 to 0·47) with P<0·00 among girls in the 15-18 years age group. Arm span was found to be a good predictor of height. The sum of four skinfolds was significantly associated with height in the older age groups for girls, while waist circumference showed a negative significant association in the same groups.

Mental practice and mirror therapy associated with conventional physical therapy training on the hemiparetic upper limb in poststroke rehabilitation: a preliminary study.

PubMed

de Almeida Oliveira, Rafael; Cintia Dos Santos Vieira, Paula; Rodrigues Martinho Fernandes, Luciane Fernanda; Patrizzi, Lislei Jorge; Ferreira de Oliveira, Sabrina; Pascucci Sande de Souza, Luciane Aparecida

2014-01-01

The presence of sensory and motor deficits is common in patients post stroke. Mental practice (MP) and mirror therapy (MT) can be used as therapeutic techniques for poststroke rehabilitation. Important results have been demonstrated, although they have not established the patients' functional gain or related results of muscle electromyographic (EMG) data to functionality. The aim was to investigate EMG activity and sensory, motor, and functional performance in hemiparetic limbs of patients with stroke after intervention with MP and MT associated with conventional physical therapy training (CPTT). Seven patients were treated twice weekly during 8 weeks with MP and MT associated with CPTT of the affected upper limb. The Fugl-Meyer scale and the Barthel Index (BI) were applied to assess sensorimotor ability and independence of patients. Activation of the upper trapezius, biceps brachii, triceps brachii, flexor carpi ulnaris, and extensor carpi radialis was evaluated by means of EMG symmetry index and muscle co-activation measurements. There were statistically significant differences between pre- and postassessment findings for the motor, sensory, and mobility domains of the Fugl-Meyer scale, as well as for BI evaluation. No statistically significant differences were observed when the pre- and posttest symmetry and co-activation data were compared, although there were qualitative changes. The protocol was effective for improving motor, sensory, and mobility aspects, as well as function involved in activities of daily living. Qualitative changes in symmetry and muscle co-contraction were found, indicating a possible improvement in upper limb rehabilitation of patients with stroke.

Dispersion and bioaccumulation of elements from an open-pit olivine mine in Southwest Greenland assessed using lichens, seaweeds, mussels and fish.

PubMed

Søndergaard, Jens

2013-08-01

This study investigated dispersion and bioaccumulation of mining-related elements from an open-pit olivine mine at Seqi in Southwest Greenland (64° N) using lichens (Flavocetraria nivalis), seaweeds (Fucus vesiculosus), mussels (Mytilus edulis) and fish (Myoxocephalus scorpius). The mine operated between 2005 and 2009, and samples were taken every year within a monitoring area 0-17 km from the mine during the period 2004-2011. A total of 46 elements were analysed in the samples. After mining began, highly elevated metal concentrations, especially nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe) and cobalt (Co), were observed in lichens relative to pre-mining levels (up to a factor of 130) caused by dust dispersion from the mining activity. Elevated metal concentrations could be measured in lichens in distances up to ~5 km from the mine/ore treatment facility. Moderately elevated concentrations of Ni and Cr (up to a factor of 7) were also observed in seaweeds and mussels but only in close vicinity (<1 km) to the mine. Analyses of fish showed no significant changes in element composition. After mine closure, the elevated metal concentrations in lichens, seaweeds and mussels decreased markedly, and in 2011, significantly elevated metal concentrations could only be measured in lichens and only within a distance of 1 km from the mine.

A nitrogen-rich nebula

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-29

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a planetary nebula named NGC 6153, located about 4000 light-years away in the southern constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion). The faint blue haze across the frame shows what remains of a star like the Sun after it has depleted most of its fuel. When this happens, the outer layers of the star are ejected, and get excited and ionised by the energetic ultraviolet light emitted by the bright hot core of the star, forming the nebula. NGC 6153 is a planetary nebula that is elliptical in shape, with an extremely rich network of loops and filaments, shown clearly in this Hubble image. However, this is not what makes this planetary nebula so interesting for astronomers. Measurements show that NGC 6153 contains large amounts of neon, argon, oxygen, carbon and chlorine — up to three times more than can be found in the Solar System. The nebula contains a whopping five times more nitrogen than the Sun! Although it may be that the star developed higher levels of these elements as it grew and evolved, it is more likely that the star originally formed from a cloud of material that already contained lots more of these elements. A version of this image was entered into the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Matej Novak. Links Matej Novak’s image on Flickr

From cosmic ray physics to cosmic ray astronomy: Bruno Rossi and the opening of new windows on the universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonolis, Luisa

2014-01-01

Bruno Rossi is considered one of the fathers of modern physics, being also a pioneer in virtually every aspect of what is today called high-energy astrophysics. At the beginning of 1930s he was the pioneer of cosmic ray research in Italy, and, as one of the leading actors in the study of the nature and behavior of the cosmic radiation, he witnessed the birth of particle physics and was one of the main investigators in this fields for many years. While cosmic ray physics moved more and more towards astrophysics, Rossi continued to be one of the inspirers of this line of research. When outer space became a reality, he did not hesitate to leap into this new scientific dimension. Rossi's intuition on the importance of exploiting new technological windows to look at the universe with new eyes, is a fundamental key to understand the profound unity which guided his scientific research path up to its culminating moments at the beginning of 1960s, when his group at MIT performed the first in situ measurements of the density, speed and direction of the solar wind at the boundary of Earth's magnetosphere, and when he promoted the search for extra-solar sources of X rays. A visionary idea which eventually led to the breakthrough experiment which discovered Scorpius X-1 in 1962, and inaugurated X-ray astronomy.

Extracellular glucose can fuel metabolism in red blood cells from high glycemic Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) but not low glycemic short-horned sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius).

PubMed

Driedzic, William R; Clow, Kathy A; Short, Connie E

2014-11-01

Energy metabolism was assessed in red blood cells (RBCs) from Atlantic cod and short-horned sculpin, two species that have markedly different levels of blood glucose. The objective was to determine whether the level of extracellular glucose has an impact on rates of glucose metabolism. The blood glucose level was 2.5 mmol l(-1) in Atlantic cod and 0.2 mmol l(-1) in short-horned sculpin, respectively. Oxygen consumption, lactate production and glucose utilization were measured in whole blood and related to grams of RBCs. Glucose utilization was assessed by measuring both glucose disappearance and the production of (3)H2O from [2-(3)H]-glucose. RBCs from both species have an aerobic-based metabolism. In Atlantic cod, extracellular glucose is sufficient to provide the sum of glucosyl equivalents to support both oxidative metabolism and lactate production. In contrast, extracellular glucose can account for only 10% of the metabolic rate in short-horned sculpin RBCs. In both species, about 70% of glucose enters the RBCs via facilitated transport. The difference in rates of extracellular glucose utilization is related to the extremely low levels of blood glucose in short-horned sculpin. In this species energy metabolism by RBCs must be supported by alternative fuels. © 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Temperature acclimation rate of aerobic scope and feeding metabolism in fishes: implications in a thermally extreme future.

PubMed

Sandblom, Erik; Gräns, Albin; Axelsson, Michael; Seth, Henrik

2014-11-07

Temperature acclimation may offset the increased energy expenditure (standard metabolic rate, SMR) and reduced scope for activity (aerobic scope, AS) predicted to occur with local and global warming in fishes and other ectotherms. Yet, the time course and mechanisms of this process is little understood. Acclimation dynamics of SMR, maximum metabolic rate, AS and the specific dynamic action of feeding (SDA) were determined in shorthorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius) after transfer from 10°C to 16°C. SMR increased in the first week by 82% reducing AS to 55% of initial values, while peak postprandial metabolism was initially greater. This meant that the estimated AS during peak SDA approached zero, constraining digestion and leaving little room for additional aerobic processes. After eight weeks at 16°C, SMR was restored, while AS and the estimated AS during peak SDA recovered partly. Collectively, this demonstrated a considerable capacity for metabolic thermal compensation, which should be better incorporated into future models on organismal responses to climate change. A mathematical model based on the empirical data suggested that phenotypes with fast acclimation rates may be favoured by natural selection as the accumulated energetic cost of a slow acclimation rate increases in a warmer future with exacerbated thermal variations. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of Planet Occurrence Rates: Extending the Kepler Legacy Across a Wide Stellar Parameter Space with K2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akeson, Rachel

Measuring the occurrence rate of extrasolar planets is one of the most fundamental constraints on our understanding of planets throughout the Galaxy. By studying planet populations across a wide parameter space in stellar age, type, metallicity, and multiplicity, we can inform planet formation, migration and evolution theories. The ground-based ELTs and the flagship space missions that NASA is planning in the next decades and beyond will be designed to make the first observations of potential biomarkers in the atmospheres of extrasolar planets understanding how common these planets and how they are distributed will be crucial for this effort. One of the most important results of the main Kepler mission was a measurement of the frequency of planets orbiting FGK dwarfs. Although that result is crucial for estimating the frequency of planetary systems orbiting middle-aged Sun-like stars, the majority of stars in the galaxy have lower masses. We propose to extend the Kepler occurrence rates to lower stellar masses by using publicly available data from the second-generation K2 mission to estimate the frequency of planets orbiting low-mass stars. The confluence of the lower temperature, smaller size, and relative abundance of M dwarfs makes them attractive and efficient targets for habitable planet detection and characterization. The archived K2 data contain nearly an order of magnitude more M dwarfs than the original Kepler data set ( 30,000 compared to 3700), allowing us to constrain occurrence rates both more precisely and with more granularity across the M dwarf parameter range. We will also take advantage of the wide variety of stellar environments sampled by the community-driven K2 mission to estimate the frequency of planets orbiting stars with a range of metallicities and ages. The K2 mission has observed several clusters across a wide range of ages, including the Upper Scorpius OB association (10My old), the Pleiades cluster (115My old), and the Hyades and Praesepe clusters (600My old). One goal of this proposal is to pinpoint when and if the planet occurrence rate converges with that of the Kepler field, whose stars have a median age of 4Gy. This will inform the timescales of the dominant formation and migration mechanisms, and improve our ability to discriminate between competing proposed theories. The proposed work encompasses the following tasks: (1) Generating and publishing a uniform, repeatable, robust catalogue of planet candidates using the publicly available K2 data comprising the first 33 months of observations; (2) Measuring the completeness (false negative rate) and reliability (false positive rate) of the resulting candidate catalogue; (3) Systematically and accurately characterizing the properties of the stellar sample (both exoplanet hosts and non-hosts); (4) Calculating the distribution of the underlying planet population across a wide range of stellar host parameters. The proposed work is relevant to several of NASA s strategic goals, including ascertaining the content, origin, and evolution of the solar system and the potential for life elsewhere , and discovering how the universe works, exploring how it began and evolved, and searching for life on planets around other stars . With respect to the Astrophysics Data Analysis Program call, the proposed work builds on the legacy of Kepler occurrence rate calculations by placing them in the wider context afforded by the publicly available K2 data.

The thermodynamic balance of the Weddell Gyre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.; Zika, Jan D.; Jullion, Loïc.; Brown, Peter J.; Holland, Paul R.; Meredith, Michael P.; Bacon, Sheldon

2016-01-01

The thermodynamic balance of the Weddell Gyre is assessed from an inverse estimate of the circulation across the gyre's rim. The gyre experiences a weak net buoyancy gain that arises from a leading-order cancelation between two opposing contributions, linked to two cells of water mass transformation and diapycnal overturning. The lower cell involves a cooling-driven densification of 8.4 ± 2.0 Sv of Circumpolar Deep Water and Antarctic Bottom Water near the gyre's southern and western margins. The upper cell entails a freshening-driven conversion of 4.9 ± 2.0 Sv of Circumpolar Deep Water into lighter upper ocean waters within the gyre interior. The distinct role of salinity between the two cells stems from opposing salinity changes induced by sea ice production, meteoric sources, and admixture of fresh upper ocean waters in the lower cell, which contrasts with coherent reductions in salinity associated with sea ice melting and meteoric sources in the upper cell.

Finite-size scaling above the upper critical dimension in Ising models with long-range interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flores-Sola, Emilio J.; Berche, Bertrand; Kenna, Ralph; Weigel, Martin

2015-01-01

The correlation length plays a pivotal role in finite-size scaling and hyperscaling at continuous phase transitions. Below the upper critical dimension, where the correlation length is proportional to the system length, both finite-size scaling and hyperscaling take conventional forms. Above the upper critical dimension these forms break down and a new scaling scenario appears. Here we investigate this scaling behaviour by simulating one-dimensional Ising ferromagnets with long-range interactions. We show that the correlation length scales as a non-trivial power of the linear system size and investigate the scaling forms. For interactions of sufficiently long range, the disparity between the correlation length and the system length can be made arbitrarily large, while maintaining the new scaling scenarios. We also investigate the behavior of the correlation function above the upper critical dimension and the modifications imposed by the new scaling scenario onto the associated Fisher relation.

Haemosuccus pancreaticus, an uncommon cause of upper gastro intestinal bleeding: Case report and review of the literature.

PubMed

Shah, Amir Ali; Charon, Jean Pierre

2015-06-01

Haemosuccus Pancreaticus is defined as upper gastro intestinal (GI) bleeding from the ampula of vater via the pancreatic duct. It is most commonly associated with pancreatic inflammation, erosion of the pancrease by aneurysm or pseudo-aneurysm of the splenic artery. We report a 69 year old man with previous history of acute pancreatitis who was admitted with recurrent haematemesis. Initial upper GI endocopy was normal, while admitted, he collapse with abdominal pain and hypotension. He was resuscitated with blood and intravenous fluid. Repeat upper GI endocopy showed fresh blood in the duodenum, but no active bleeding site was demonstrated. An urgent coeliac axis CT angiogram was done which showed an splenic artery pseudo-aneurysm, which was successfully embolized. Patient is well 9 months after the procedure. This case highlights the importance of considering coeliac axis CT angiogram as part of investigation for obscure GI bleeding.

Potentiometric surface of the upper Floridan aquifer in Florida and in parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama, May 1985

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bush, Peter W.; Barr, G. Lynn; Clarke, John S.; Johnston, Richard H.

1987-01-01

A map, constructed as a part of the Floridan Regional Aquifer-System Analysis (RASA), shows the potentiometric surface of the Upper Floridan aquifer for May 1985. It is based on measurements of water level or artesian pressure made in about 2 ,500 wells during the period May 13 to 24, 1985. Only measurements from tightly cased wells open exclusively to the Upper Floridan aquifer were used to make the map. These included 1,425 wells in Florida, 924 in Georgia, 133 in South Carolina, and 21 in Alabama. The potentiometric surface of the Upper Floridan aquifer changed little between 1980 and 1985. Significant water level declines were observed only in southwest Georgia and west-central Florida. Low rainfall during early 1985 and associated pumping for irrigation caused the declines in both areas. (Lantz-PTT)

Stress fractures of the ribs and upper extremities: causation, evaluation, and management.

PubMed

Miller, Timothy L; Harris, Joshua D; Kaeding, Christopher C

2013-08-01

Stress fractures are common troublesome injuries in athletes and non-athletes. Historically, stress fractures have been thought to predominate in the lower extremities secondary to the repetitive stresses of impact loading. Stress injuries of the ribs and upper extremities are much less common and often unrecognized. Consequently, these injuries are often omitted from the differential diagnosis of rib or upper extremity pain. Given the infrequency of this diagnosis, few case reports or case series have reported on their precipitating activities and common locations. Appropriate evaluation for these injuries requires a thorough history and physical examination. Radiographs may be negative early, requiring bone scintigraphy or MRI to confirm the diagnosis. Nonoperative and operative treatment recommendations are made based on location, injury classification, and causative activity. An understanding of the most common locations of upper extremity stress fractures and their associated causative activities is essential for prompt diagnosis and optimal treatment.

Upper non-variceal gastrointestinal bleeding - review the effectiveness of endoscopic hemostasis methods

PubMed Central

Szura, Mirosław; Pasternak, Artur

2015-01-01

Upper non-variceal gastrointestinal bleeding is a condition that requires immediate medical intervention and has a high associated mortality rate (exceeding 10%). The vast majority of upper gastrointestinal bleeding cases are due to peptic ulcers. Helicobacter pylori infection, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and aspirin are the main risk factors for peptic ulcer disease. Endoscopic therapy has generally been recommended as the first-line treatment for upper gastrointestinal bleeding as it has been shown to reduce recurrent bleeding, the need for surgery and mortality. Early endoscopy (within 24 h of hospital admission) has a greater impact than delayed endoscopy on the length of hospital stay and requirement for blood transfusion. This paper aims to review and compare the efficacy of the types of endoscopic hemostasis most commonly used to control non-variceal gastrointestinal bleeding by pooling data from the literature. PMID:26421105

Chlamydia trachomatis-induced Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome: a case report.

PubMed

Ekabe, Cyril Jabea; Kehbila, Jules; Njim, Tsi; Kadia, Benjamin Momo; Tendonge, Celestine Ntemlefack; Monekosso, Gottlieb Lobe

2017-01-03

Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome is defined as perihepatitis associated with pelvic inflammatory disease. Chlamydia trachomatis is one of its most common aetiologies. This syndrome usually presents with right upper quadrant abdominal pain mimicking other hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal pathologies, hence, posing a diagnostic dilemma in settings with limited diagnostic tools. A 32 year old African female presented with acute right upper quadrant abdominal pain and vaginal discharge, for which she had previously received treatment in another health center with no improvement. Clinical and laboratory findings were suggestive of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome. Five days after treatment with oral doxycycline, the patient showed marked clinical improvement. Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome is a common cause of right upper quadrant pain which is often under diagnosed in poor communities. Hence, it should be included as a differential diagnosis in patients presenting with right upper quadrant pain, especially in females of reproductive age.

Vertical deformation associated with normal fault systems evolved over coseismic, postseismic, and multiseismic periods

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thompson, George A.; Parsons, Thomas E.

2016-01-01

Vertical deformation of extensional provinces varies significantly and in seemingly contradictory ways. Sparse but robust geodetic, seismic, and geologic observations in the Basin and Range province of the western United States indicate that immediately after an earthquake, vertical change primarily occurs as subsidence of the normal fault hanging wall. A few decades later, a ±100 km wide zone is symmetrically uplifted. The preserved topography of long-term rifting shows bent and tilted footwall flanks rising high above deep basins. We develop finite element models subjected to extensional and gravitational forces to study time-varying deformation associated with normal faulting. We replicate observations with a model that has a weak upper mantle overlain by a stronger lower crust and a breakable elastic upper crust. A 60° dipping normal fault cuts through the upper crust and extends through the lower crust to simulate an underlying shear zone. Stretching the model under gravity demonstrates that asymmetric slip via collapse of the hanging wall is a natural consequence of coseismic deformation. Focused flow in the upper mantle imposed by deformation of the lower crust localizes uplift under the footwall; the breakable upper crust is a necessary model feature to replicate footwall bending over the observed width ( < 10 km), which is predicted to take place within 1-2 decades after each large earthquake. Thus the best-preserved topographic signature of rifting is expected to occur early in the postseismic period. The relatively stronger lower crust in our models is necessary to replicate broader postseismic uplift that is observed geodetically in subsequent decades.

Biomechanical loading on the upper extremity increases from single key tapping to directional tapping.

PubMed

Qin, Jin; Trudeau, Matthieu; Katz, Jeffrey N; Buchholz, Bryan; Dennerlein, Jack T

2011-08-01

Musculoskeletal disorders associated with computer use span the joints of the upper extremity. Computing typically involves tapping in multiple directions. Thus, we sought to describe the loading on the finger, wrist, elbow and shoulder joints in terms of kinematic and kinetic difference across single key switch tapping to directional tapping on multiple keys. An experiment with repeated measures design was conducted. Six subjects tapped with their right index finger on a stand-alone number keypad placed horizontally in three conditions: (1) on single key switch (the number key 5); (2) left and right on number key 4 and 6; (3) top and bottom on number key 8 and 2. A force-torque transducer underneath the keypad measured the fingertip force. An active-marker infrared motion analysis system measured the kinematics of the fingertip, hand, forearm, upper arm and torso. Joint moments for the metacarpophalangeal, wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints were estimated using inverse dynamics. Tapping in the top-bottom orientation introduced the largest biomechanical loading on the upper extremity especially for the proximal joint, followed by tapping in the left-right orientation, and the lowest loading was observed during single key switch tapping. Directional tapping on average increased the fingertip force, joint excursion, and peak-to-peak joint torque by 45%, 190% and 55%, respectively. Identifying the biomechanical loading patterns associated with these fundamental movements of keying improves the understanding of the risks of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders for computer keyboard users. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Constraint-induced movement therapy improves upper limb activity and participation in hemiplegic cerebral palsy: a systematic review.

PubMed

Chiu, Hsiu-Ching; Ada, Louise

2016-07-01

Does constraint-induced movement therapy improve activity and participation in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy? Does it improve activity and participation more than the same dose of upper limb therapy without restraint? Is the effect of constraint-induced movement therapy related to the duration of intervention or the age of the children? Systematic review of randomised trials with meta-analysis. Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy with any level of motor disability. The experimental group received constraint-induced movement therapy (defined as restraint of the less affected upper limb during supervised activity practice of the more affected upper limb). The control group received no intervention, sham intervention, or the same dose of upper limb therapy. Measures of upper limb activity and participation were used in the analysis. Constraint-induced movement therapy was more effective than no/sham intervention in terms of upper limb activity (SMD 0.63, 95% CI 0.20 to 1.06) and participation (SMD 1.21, 95% CI 0.41 to 2.02). However, constraint-induced movement therapy was no better than the same dose of upper limb therapy without restraint either in terms of upper limb activity (SMD 0.05, 95% CI -0.21 to 0.32) or participation (SMD -0.02, 95% CI -0.34 to 0.31). The effect of constraint-induced movement therapy was not related to the duration of intervention or the age of the children. This review suggests that constraint-induced movement therapy is more effective than no intervention, but no more effective than the same dose of upper limb practice without restraint. PROSPERO CRD42015024665. [Chiu H-C, Ada L (2016) Constraint-induced movement therapy improves upper limb activity and participation in hemiplegic cerebral palsy: a systematic review.Journal of Physiotherapy62: 130-137]. Copyright © 2016 Australian Physiotherapy Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Quantification of Upper Limb Motor Recovery and EEG Power Changes after Robot-Assisted Bilateral Arm Training in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Prospective Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Geroin, Christian; Bortolami, Marta; Saltuari, Leopold; Manganotti, Paolo

2018-01-01

Background Bilateral arm training (BAT) has shown promise in expediting progress toward upper limb recovery in chronic stroke patients, but its neural correlates are poorly understood. Objective To evaluate changes in upper limb function and EEG power after a robot-assisted BAT in chronic stroke patients. Methods In a within-subject design, seven right-handed chronic stroke patients with upper limb paresis received 21 sessions (3 days/week) of the robot-assisted BAT. The outcomes were changes in score on the upper limb section of the Fugl-Meyer assessment (FM), Motricity Index (MI), and Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) evaluated at the baseline (T0), posttraining (T1), and 1-month follow-up (T2). Event-related desynchronization/synchronization were calculated in the upper alpha and the beta frequency ranges. Results Significant improvement in all outcomes was measured over the course of the study. Changes in FM were significant at T2, and in MAS at T1 and T2. After training, desynchronization on the ipsilesional sensorimotor areas increased during passive and active movement, as compared with T0. Conclusions A repetitive robotic-assisted BAT program may improve upper limb motor function and reduce spasticity in the chronically impaired paretic arm. Effects on spasticity were associated with EEG changes over the ipsilesional sensorimotor network. PMID:29780410

The potential value of employing a RLV-based ``pop-up'' trajectory approach for space access

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nielsen, Edward; O'Leary, Robert

1997-01-01

This paper presents the potential benefits of employing useful upper stages with planned reusable launch vehicle systems to increase payload performance to various earth orbits. It highlights these benefits through performance analysis on a generic vehicle/upper-stage combination (basing all estimates on realistic technology availability). A nominal 34,019 kg [75,000 lbm] dry mass RLV capable of orbiting 454 kg into a polar orbit by itself (SSTO) would be capable of orbiting 9500-10,000 kg into a polar orbit using a nominal upper stage released from a suborbital trajectory. The paper also emphasizes the technical and operational issues associated with actually executing a ``pop-up'' trajectory launch and deployment.

The Hirnantian δ13C Positive Excursion in the Nabiullino Section (South Urals)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yakupov, R. R.; Mavrinskaya, T. M.; Smoleva, I. V.

2018-02-01

The upper Sandbian, Katian, and Hirnantian complexes of conodonts in the upper Ordovician section of the western slope of the Southern Urals near the village of Nabiullino were studied. The δ13C positive excursion with a maximum of 3.3‰ associated with the global Hirnantian isotopic event, HICE, was fixed for the first time. This excursion shows the beginning of the Hirnantian stage in the terrigenous-carbonate section of the upper Ordovician in the Southern Urals. It coincides with the first occurrence of the Hirnantian conodont species of Gamachignathus ensifer and the conodonts of shallow-water biophacies, Aphelognathus-Ozarkodina, reflecting the global glacio-eustatic event.

Characterization of Strength and Function in Ambulatory Adults With GNE Myopathy.

PubMed

Argov, Zohar; Bronstein, Faye; Esposito, Alicia; Feinsod-Meiri, Yael; Florence, Julaine M; Fowler, Eileen; Greenberg, Marcia B; Malkus, Elizabeth C; Rebibo, Odelia; Siener, Catherine S; Caraco, Yoseph; Kolodny, Edwin H; Lau, Heather A; Pestronk, Alan; Shieh, Perry; Skrinar, Alison M; Mayhew, Jill E

2017-09-01

To characterize the pattern and extent of muscle weakness and impact on physical functioning in adults with GNEM. Strength and function were assessed in GNEM subjects (n = 47) using hand-held dynamometry, manual muscle testing, upper and lower extremity functional capacity tests, and the GNEM-Functional Activity Scale (GNEM-FAS). Profound upper and lower muscle weakness was measured using hand-held dynamometry in a characteristic pattern, previously described. Functional tests and clinician-reported outcomes demonstrated the consequence of muscle weakness on physical functioning. The characteristic pattern of upper and lower muscle weakness associated with GNEM and the resulting functional limitations can be reliably measured using these clinical outcome assessments of muscle strength and function.

Initial Assessment and Resuscitation in Nonvariceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding.

PubMed

Simon, Tracey G; Travis, Anne C; Saltzman, John R

2015-07-01

Acute nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding remains an important cause of hospital admission with an associated mortality of 2-14%. Initial patient evaluation includes rapid hemodynamic assessment, large-bore intravenous catheter insertion and volume resuscitation. A hemoglobin transfusion threshold of 7 g/dL is recommended, and packed red blood cell transfusion may be necessary to restore intravascular volume and improve tissue perfusion. Patients should be risk stratified into low- and high-risk categories, using validated prognostic scoring systems such as the Glasgow-Blatchford, AIMS65 or Rockall scores. Effective early management of acute, nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage is critical for improving patient outcomes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Kinematic Constraints Associated with the Acquisition of Overarm Throwing Part II: Upper Extremity Actions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stodden, David F.; Langendorfer, Stephen J.; Fleisig, Glenn S.; Andrews, James R.

2006-01-01

The purposes of this study were to: (a) examine the differences within 11 specific kinematic variables and an outcome measure (ball velocity) associated with component developmental levels of humerus and forearm action (Roberton & Halverson, 1984), and (b) if the differences in kinematic variables were significantly associated with the differences…

Why Do Some Young Adults Not Graduate from Upper-Secondary School? On the Importance of Signals of Labour Market Failure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gustafsson, Björn; Katz, Katarina; Österberg, Torun

2017-01-01

In high-income countries, not completing secondary school often entails a high risk of social exclusion. Using data on young adults born in 1985 who grew up in metropolitan Sweden, we study factors associated with not graduating from upper-secondary school at age 21. Our hypothesis is that if a young person sees examples of people who are not able…

Evaluation of the Specificity and Sensitivity of a Potential Rapid Influenza Screening System

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

Linder JA, Singer DE , Stafford RS. Association between antibiotic prescribing and visit duration in adults with upper respiratory tract infections. Clin...collected from emergency department patients presenting with influenza-like symptoms at a large military academic hospital and on de -identified nasal swabs...in the United States (Franck and Smith, 2010; Linder et al., 2003). For instance, in a national ambulatory network study of 52,135 upper respiratory

Hard work never hurt anyone--or did it? A review of occupational associations with soft tissue musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and upper limb.

PubMed

Walker-Bone, K; Cooper, C

2005-08-01

Pain in the neck and upper limb is common and contributes greatly to absence due to sickness. Evidence is accumulating that factors such as prolonged abnormal posture and repetition contribute to these conditions. Psychosocial factors may also play a part and the relative importance of these is not yet known. Primary and secondary prevention trials are needed.

Traditional and environmentally preferable cleaning product exposure and health symptoms in custodians

PubMed Central

Cavallari, Jennifer M.; Wakai, Sara; Schenck, Paula; Simcox, Nancy; Morse, Tim; Meyer, John D.; Cherniack, Martin

2015-01-01

Background We investigated the associations between traditional and environmentally preferable cleaning product exposure and dermal, respiratory, and musculoskeletal symptoms in a population of custodians. Methods We analyzed associations between symptoms and exposure to traditional and environmentally preferable cleaning product exposure among 329 custodians. Results We observed increased odds of dermal (P < 0.01), upper (P = 0.01) and lower respiratory (P = 0.01), and upper extremity (P < 0.01), back (P < 0.01), and lower extremity (P = 0.01) musculoskeletal symptoms associated with increased typical traditional cleaning product exposure. We observed significant trends for increased odds of dermal (P = 0.03) and back (P = 0.04) and lower (P = 0.02) extremity musculoskeletal symptoms associated with increased typical environmentally preferable cleaning product exposure. Conclusions Fewer positive associations and reduced odds of health symptoms associated with environmentally preferable cleaning product exposure suggest that these products may represent a safer alternative to traditional cleaning products. Am. J. Ind. Med. 58:988–995, 2015. © 2015 The Authors. American Journal of Industrial Medicine Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:26040239

Successful treatment of Miescher's cheilitis in Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome with betamethasone injections and doxycycline

PubMed Central

Oudrhiri, Lamia; Chiheb, Soumiya; Marnissi, Farida; Zamiati, Soumaya; Benchikhi, Hakima

2012-01-01

We report a case of a 19-year-old girl who presented with 5-year history of swelling of upper lip and fissured tongue treated with dapsone then oral steroids without any improvement. Clinical examination found peripheral facial nerve paralysis and Labial mucosa biopsy showed non-necrotizing giganto-epithelioid granuloma. Diagnosis of Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome was retaind because of association of cheilitis, lingua plicata and facial paralysis. Given the failure of dapsone and oral steroid we suggested an association of betamethasone injection and doxycycline. Gradual and permanent reduction of the upper lip volume was observed. One year follow up objectified no reactivation of cheilitis. PMID:23397029

The prevalence of musculoskeletal problems and risk factors among women assembly workers in the semiconductor industry.

PubMed

Chandrasakaran, A; Chee, H L; Rampal, K G; Tan, G L

2003-12-01

A cross-sectional study to determine work-related musculoskeletal problems and ergonomic risk factors was conducted among 529 women semiconductor workers. Overall, 83.4% had musculoskeletal symptoms in the last one year. Pain in the back (57.8%), lower leg (48.4%) and shoulder (44.8%) were the three most common musculoskeletal problems. Significant associations were found between prolonged standing and upper and lower leg pain, between prolonged sitting and neck and shoulder pain and between prolonged bending and shoulder arm, back and upper leg pain. The study therefore showed a clear association between work-related musculoskeletal pain and prolonged hours spent in particular postures and movements.

A piano training program to improve manual dexterity and upper extremity function in chronic stroke survivors.

PubMed

Villeneuve, Myriam; Penhune, Virginia; Lamontagne, Anouk

2014-01-01

Music-supported therapy was shown to induce improvements in motor skills in stroke survivors. Whether all stroke individuals respond similarly to the intervention and whether gains can be maintained over time remain unknown. We estimated the immediate and retention effects of a piano training program on upper extremity function in persons with chronic stroke. Thirteen stroke participants engaged in a 3-week piano training comprising supervised sessions (9 × 60 min) and home practice. Fine and gross manual dexterity, movement coordination, and functional use of the upper extremity were assessed at baseline, pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at a 3-week follow-up. Significant improvements were observed for all outcomes at post-intervention and follow-up compared to pre-intervention scores. Larger magnitudes of change in manual dexterity and functional use of the upper extremity were associated with higher initial levels of motor recovery. Piano training can result in sustainable improvements in upper extremity function in chronic stroke survivors. Individuals with a higher initial level of motor recovery at baseline appear to benefit the most from this intervention.

High-Pressure Transvenous Perfusion of the Upper Extremity in Human Muscular Dystrophy: A Safety Study with 0.9% Saline.

PubMed

Fan, Zheng; Kocis, Keith; Valley, Robert; Howard, James F; Chopra, Manisha; Chen, Yasheng; An, Hongyu; Lin, Weili; Muenzer, Joseph; Powers, William

2015-09-01

We evaluated safety and feasibility of high-pressure transvenous limb perfusion in an upper extremity of adult patients with muscular dystrophy, after completing a similar study in a lower extremity. A dose escalation study of single-limb perfusion with 0.9% saline was carried out in nine adults with muscular dystrophies under intravenous analgesia. Our study demonstrates that it is feasible and definitely safe to perform high-pressure transvenous perfusion with 0.9% saline up to 35% of limb volume in the upper extremities of young adults with muscular dystrophy. Perfusion at 40% limb volume is associated with short-lived physiological changes in peripheral nerves without clinical correlates in one subject. This study provides the basis for a phase 1/2 clinical trial using pressurized transvenous delivery into upper limbs of nonambulatory patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Furthermore, our results are applicable to other conditions such as limb girdle muscular dystrophy as a method for delivering regional macromolecular therapeutics in high dose to skeletal muscles of the upper extremity.

[Relationship between sulfur dioxide pollution and upper respiratory outpatients in Jiangbei, Ningbo].

PubMed

Wu, Yifeng; Zhao, Fengmin; Qian, Xujun; Xu, Guozhang; He, Tianfeng; Shen, Yueping; Cai, Yibiao

2015-07-01

To describe the daily average concentration of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in Ningbo, and to analysis the health impacts it caused in upper respiratory disease. With outpatients log and air pollutants monitoring data matched in 2011-2013, the distributed lag non-linear models were used to analysis the relative risk of the number of upper respiratory patients associated with SO2, and also excessive risk, and the inferred number of patients due to SO2 pollution. The daily average concentration of SO2 didn't exceed the limit value of second class area. The coefficient of upper respiratory outpatient number and daily average concentration of SO2 matched was 0.44,with the excessive risk was 10% to 18%, the lag of most SO2 concentrations was 4 to 6 days. It could be estimated that about 30% of total upper respiratory outpatients were caused by SO2 pollution. Although the daily average concentration of SO2 didn't exceed the standard in 3 years, the health impacts still be caused with lag effect.

Upper limb function in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: 24 month longitudinal data.

PubMed

Pane, Marika; Coratti, Giorgia; Brogna, Claudia; Mazzone, Elena Stacy; Mayhew, Anna; Fanelli, Lavinia; Messina, Sonia; D'Amico, Adele; Catteruccia, Michela; Scutifero, Marianna; Frosini, Silvia; Lanzillotta, Valentina; Colia, Giulia; Cavallaro, Filippo; Rolle, Enrica; De Sanctis, Roberto; Forcina, Nicola; Petillo, Roberta; Barp, Andrea; Gardani, Alice; Pini, Antonella; Monaco, Giulia; D'Angelo, Maria Grazia; Zanin, Riccardo; Vita, Gian Luca; Bruno, Claudio; Mongini, Tiziana; Ricci, Federica; Pegoraro, Elena; Bello, Luca; Berardinelli, Angela; Battini, Roberta; Sansone, Valeria; Albamonte, Emilio; Baranello, Giovanni; Bertini, Enrico; Politano, Luisa; Sormani, Maria Pia; Mercuri, Eugenio

2018-01-01

The aim of the study was to establish 24 month changes in upper limb function using a revised version of the performance of upper limb test (PUL 2.0) in a large cohort of ambulant and non-ambulant boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and to identify possible trajectories of progression. Of the 187 patients studied, 87 were ambulant (age range: 7-15.8 years), and 90 non-ambulant (age range: 9.08-24.78). The total scores changed significantly over time (p<0.001). Non-ambulant patients had lower total scores at baseline (mean 19.7) when compared to the ambulant ones (mean 38.4). They also had also a bigger decrease in total scores over 24 months compared to the ambulant boys (4.36 vs 2.07 points). Multivariate model analysis showed that the Performance of Upper Limb changes reflected the entry level and ambulation status, that were independently associated to the slope of Performance of Upper Limb changes. This information will be of help both in clinical practice and at the time of designing clinical trials.

Clinical presentation and manual therapy for upper quadrant musculoskeletal conditions

PubMed Central

Isabel de-la-Llave-Rincón, Ana; Puentedura, Emilio J; Fernández-de-las-Peñas, César

2011-01-01

In recent years, increased knowledge of the pathogenesis of upper quadrant pain syndromes has translated to better management strategies. Recent studies have demonstrated evidence of peripheral and central sensitization mechanisms in different local pain syndromes of the upper quadrant such as idiopathic neck pain, lateral epicondylalgia, whiplash-associated disorders, shoulder impingement, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Therefore, a treatment-based classification approach where subjects receive matched interventions has been developed and, it has been found that these patients experience better outcomes than those receiving non-matched interventions. There is evidence suggesting that the cervical and thoracic spine is involved in upper quadrant pain. Spinal manipulation has been found to be effective for patients with elbow pain, neck pain, or cervicobrachial pain. Additionally, it is known that spinal manipulative therapy exerts neurophysiological effects that can activate pain modulation mechanisms. This paper exposes some manual therapies for upper quadrant pain syndromes, based on a nociceptive pain rationale for modulating central nervous system including trigger point therapy, dry needling, mobilization or manipulation, and cognitive pain approaches. PMID:23115473

Upper gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with advanced cancer: relationship to nutritional and performance status.

PubMed

Bovio, G; Montagna, G; Bariani, C; Baiardi, P

2009-10-01

The goals of the study were to determine the relationship of upper gastrointestinal symptoms with nutritional status and to assess their association with performance status in patients with advanced cancer. We studied 143 patients (50 F, 93 M, mean age 68 +/- 11 years, mean body mass index 22.39 +/- 4.3 kg/m(2)). Assessed symptoms were the following: anorexia, nausea, vomiting, dysphagia for solids, dysphagia for liquids, xerostomia, hypogeusia, dysgeusia, hiccup and chewing disturbances. We determined anthropometric parameters, daily energy intake and serum albumin, prealbumin and transferrin. The most common upper gastrointestinal symptoms were xerostomia (73%), anorexia (49%) and chewing disturbances (40%). Fifty-four percent of patients had weight loss greater than 10%. Seventy-three patients (51%) had daily energy intake lower than their resting energy expenditure. Mean serum prealbumin, albumin and transferrin were below normal range. Mean Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status scale was 3.1 +/- 0.49. Symptoms were often strongly correlated, and usually, patients experienced at least three upper gastrointestinal symptoms at the same time. Anorexia, nausea and vomiting were the symptoms mostly correlated with other symptoms. A correlation was found between vomiting and hiccup. Energy intake (EI) was the nutritional parameter mostly affected by upper gastrointestinal symptoms; moreover, EI is the most predictive factor of upper gastrointestinal symptoms, particularly xerostomia, anorexia and dysphagia for solids. Upper gastrointestinal symptoms are linked to nutritional parameters: In particular, energy intake represents the most predictive variable of symptom occurrence. The performance status is not affected by upper gastrointestinal symptoms. A rigorous nutritional assessment and the managing of upper gastrointestinal symptoms are crucial in patients with advanced cancer.

Exercising upper respiratory videoendoscopic evaluation of 100 nonracing performance horses with abnormal respiratory noise and/or poor performance.

PubMed

Davidson, E J; Martin, B B; Boston, R C; Parente, E J

2011-01-01

Although well documented in racehorses, there is paucity in the literature regarding the prevalence of dynamic upper airway abnormalities in nonracing performance horses. To describe upper airway function of nonracing performance horses with abnormal respiratory noise and/or poor performance via exercising upper airway videoendoscopy. Medical records of nonracing performance horses admitted for exercising evaluation with a chief complaint of abnormal respiratory noise and/or poor performance were reviewed. All horses had video recordings of resting and exercising upper airway endoscopy. Relationships between horse demographics, resting endoscopic findings, treadmill intensity and implementation of head and neck flexion during exercise with exercising endoscopic findings were examined. Dynamic upper airway obstructions were observed in 72% of examinations. Head and neck flexion was necessary to obtain a diagnosis in 21 horses. Pharyngeal wall collapse was the most prevalent upper airway abnormality, observed in 31% of the examinations. Complex abnormalities were noted in 27% of the examinations. Resting laryngeal dysfunction was significantly associated with dynamic arytenoid collapse and the odds of detecting intermittent dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP) during exercise in horses with resting DDSP was only 7.7%. Exercising endoscopic observations were different from the resting observations in 54% of examinations. Dynamic upper airway obstructions were common in nonracing performance horses with respiratory noise and/or poor performance. Resting endoscopy was only helpful in determining exercising abnormalities with recurrent laryngeal neuropathy. This study emphasises the importance of exercising endoscopic evaluation in nonracing performance horses with abnormal respiratory noise and/or poor performance for accurate assessment of dynamic upper airway function. © 2010 EVJ Ltd.

The association between upper trapezius activity and thorax movement in classical singing.

PubMed

Pettersen, V; Westgaard, R H

2004-12-01

This study aimed to examine in classical singing the phasing of the activity in upper trapezius (TR) to upper and lower thorax movement and to the phasing of activity in the intercostals (INT) and in the lateral abdominal (OBL) muscles. Electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded from the TR, INT, and OBL muscles on the right side. Thorax movement (TX) was traced with two strain gauge sensors placed around the upper and lower thorax. Four professional opera singers (soprano, mezzo, tenor, and baritone) and four advanced student classical singers (three sopranos and one mezzo) participated. Three of the professional singers were 33 years, and one was 40 years. The students were between 23 and 30 years. Different arias, freely chosen by the singers from their professional repertoire, served as the singing task for the opera singers. All students sang "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess. All subjects performed their task three times with variation in vocal loudness (normal, forte, piano). Thereafter, for all subjects, a biofeedback (BF) procedure was performed on TR to lower TR activity and a repeat performance of the singing tasks was carried out. EMG activity from the three recording sites and upper and lower TX circumference were compared before and after BF. A phasing of upper TR activity to INT and OBL activity was discovered, all muscles supporting the expiration phase. During phonation, the upper TR contributes in the compression of upper TX, thus serving as an accessory muscle of expiration. Group results from both opera singers and student singers showed that EMG activity was significantly lowered after BF. The lowered TR activity resulted in an expanded upper TX circumference and less TX respiratory movement after BF.

Canopy position affects the relationships between leaf respiration and associated traits in a tropical rainforest in Far North Queensland.

PubMed

Weerasinghe, Lasantha K; Creek, Danielle; Crous, Kristine Y; Xiang, Shuang; Liddell, Michael J; Turnbull, Matthew H; Atkin, Owen K

2014-06-01

We explored the impact of canopy position on leaf respiration (R) and associated traits in tree and shrub species growing in a lowland tropical rainforest in Far North Queensland, Australia. The range of traits quantified included: leaf R in darkness (RD) and in the light (RL; estimated using the Kok method); the temperature (T)-sensitivity of RD; light-saturated photosynthesis (Asat); leaf dry mass per unit area (LMA); and concentrations of leaf nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), soluble sugars and starch. We found that LMA, and area-based N, P, sugars and starch concentrations were all higher in sun-exposed/upper canopy leaves, compared with their shaded/lower canopy and deep-shade/understory counterparts; similarly, area-based rates of RD, RL and Asat (at 28 °C) were all higher in the upper canopy leaves, indicating higher metabolic capacity in the upper canopy. The extent to which light inhibited R did not differ significantly between upper and lower canopy leaves, with the overall average inhibition being 32% across both canopy levels. Log-log RD-Asat relationships differed between upper and lower canopy leaves, with upper canopy leaves exhibiting higher rates of RD for a given Asat (both on an area and mass basis), as well as higher mass-based rates of RD for a given [N] and [P]. Over the 25-45 °C range, the T-sensitivity of RD was similar in upper and lower canopy leaves, with both canopy positions exhibiting Q10 values near 2.0 (i.e., doubling for every 10 °C rise in T) and Tmax values near 60 °C (i.e., T where RD reached maximal values). Thus, while rates of RD at 28 °C decreased with increasing depth in the canopy, the T-dependence of RD remained constant; these findings have important implications for vegetation-climate models that seek to predict carbon fluxes between tropical lowland rainforests and the atmosphere. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Risk factors associated with upper extremity palsy after expansive open-door laminoplasty for cervical myelopathy.

PubMed

Wu, Feng L; Sun, Yu; Pan, Sheng F; Zhang, Li; Liu, Zhong J

2014-06-01

Postoperative paresis, so-called C5 palsy, of the upper extremities is a common complication of cervical surgery. There have been several reports about upper extremity palsy after cervical laminoplasty for patients with cervical myelopathy. However, the possible risk factors remain unclear. To investigate the factors associated with the development of upper extremity palsy after expansive open-door laminoplasty for cervical myelopathy. A retrospective review of medical records. A total of 102 patients (76 men and 26 women) were eligible for analysis in this study. The mean age of the patients was 58.7 years (range 35-81 years). Sixteen patients (13 men and 3 women, average age 62.8 years) with palsy were categorized as Group P, and eighty-six patients (63 men and 23 women, average age 57.8 years) without palsy as Group C. The demographic data collected from both groups were age, sex, duration of symptoms, disease, and type of surgical procedure. Cervical curvature index, width of the intervertebral foramen (WIF) at C5, anterior protrusion of the superior articular process (APSAP), number of compressed segments, high-signal intensity zone at the level corresponding to C3-C5 (HIZ:C3-C5), and posterior shift of the spinal cord (PSSC) were also evaluated. Upper extremity palsy was defined as weakness of Grade 4 or less of the key muscles in the upper extremity by manual muscle test without any deterioration of myelopathic symptoms after surgery. Comparisons were made with screen for the parameters with significant differences, and then we further analyzed these parameters by logistic regression analysis (the forward method) to verify the risk factors of the upper extremity palsy. Significant differences in diagnosis, the type of procedure, WIF, APSAP, and HIZ:C3-C5 were observed between the two groups. No statistical difference in PSSC between the groups was noted (2.06 vs. 2.53 mm, p=.247). In logistic regression analysis, ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL), cervical open-door laminoplasty together with posterior instrumented fusion (CLP+PIF), and WIF were found to be significant risk factors for postoperative upper extremity palsy. Patients with preoperative foraminal stenosis, OPLL, and additional iatrogenic foraminal stenosis because of CLP+PIF were more likely to develop postoperative upper extremity palsy. Attention should be given to the WIF determined on preoperative computed tomography of the C5 root. To prevent iatrogenic foraminal stenosis, appropriate distraction between spine segments should be provided during placement of the rod. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the use of common sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius) organ histology as bioindicator for element exposure in the fjord of the mining area Maarmorilik, West Greenland

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sonne, Christian, E-mail: csh@dmu.dk; Bach, Lis; Søndergaard, Jens

The former Black Angel lead–zinc mine in Maarmorilik, West Greenland, is a historic example of how mining activity may result in a significant impact on the surrounding fjord system in terms of elevated concentrations of especially lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in seawater, sediments and surrounding biota. In order to shed light on the present contamination and possible effects in the fjord we initiated a range of studies including a pilot study on gill and liver morphology of common sculpins (Myoxocephalus scorpius) around Maarmorilik. Sculpins were caught and sampled at five different stations known to represent a gradient of Pbmore » concentrations. Fish livers from all specimens were analyzed for relevant elements in the area: Fe, Zn, As, Cu, Se, Cd, Pb, Ag, Hg, Co and Ni. Lead, As and Hg showed significant differences among the five stations. For 20% of the sculpins, Hg concentrations were in the range of lowest observed effect dose (LOED) of 0.1–0.5 μg/g ww for toxic threshold on reproduction and subclinical endpoints. Likewise LOEDs for tissue lesions, LOEDs for biochemistry, growth, survival and reproduction were exceeded for Cd (0.42–1.8 μg/g ww) and for As (11.6 μg/g ww) in 28% and 85% of the sculpins, respectively. Similar to this, the no observed effect dose (NOED) for biochemistry was exceeded for Pb (0.32 μg/g ww) and for growth, mortality and reproduction for Zn (60–68 μg/g ww) in 33% and 24% of the sculpins, respectively. For all sculpins, females were significantly larger than males and for five of the elements (Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Se) females had higher concentrations. The chronic lesions observed in liver (mononuclear cell infiltrates, necrosis, vacuolar hepatocytes, portal fibrosis, bile duct hyperplasia, active melanomacrophage centers) and gills (fusion and edema of secondary lamellae, laminar telangiectasis, mononuclear cell infiltrates, blebs) were similar to those in the literature studies for both wild and laboratory exposed sculpins and other fish species carrying similar or higher Hg concentrations. Ignoring sex and size, specimens with hepatic cell infiltrates had the highest concentrations of most elements, a relation that was also found for gill telangiectasis and Hg (all p<0.05). When controlling for sex and size, the prevalence of vacuolar hepatocytes and endoparasites was significantly highest at the three most contaminated stations and similar differences were found for liver necrosis. We suggest that beside exposure to mining-related elements, other environmental factors, such as parasites, might be co-factors in the development of the observed liver and gill lesions. Therefore, sculpin liver and gill pathology are likely to be suitable health indicators when biomonitoring gradients of mining and other element related activity effects; while a larger study is required to fully evaluate the relationships. - Highlights: • Black Angel Pb–Zn mine in West Greenland has led to significant metal pollution. • Gill and liver morphology of common sculpins was evaluated as bioindicators. • Significant pathologies were found and were related to metal concentrations. • Sculpin pathology may be suitable health indicators for mining activity effects. • These should be enrolled in EIAs of raw material industrialization in the Arctic.« less

Nematode management in pecans

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In 2002, the pecan root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne partityla = PRKN) was found on pecan in the southeastern U.S. and was associated with stressed trees exhibiting dead branches in the upper canopy and (or) typical mouse ear (ME) associated foliar symptoms. This research evaluates the host susceptib...

Programmed Death-ligand 1 Expression in Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma.

PubMed

Skala, Stephanie L; Liu, Tzu-Ying; Udager, Aaron M; Weizer, Alon Z; Montgomery, Jeffrey S; Palapattu, Ganesh S; Siddiqui, Javed; Cao, Xuhong; Fields, Kristina; Abugharib, Ahmed E; Soliman, Moaaz; Hafez, Khaled S; Miller, David; Lee, Cheryl T; Alva, Ajjai; Chinnaiyan, Arul M; Morgan, Todd M; Spratt, Daniel E; Jiang, Hui; Mehra, Rohit

2017-10-01

Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is the most common malignancy of the urinary tract. Upper tract (renal pelvis and ureter) urothelial carcinomas (UTUC) account for approximately 5% of UCs but a significant subset are invasive and associated with poor clinical outcomes. To evaluate programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in UTUC. UTUC cases from 1997-2016 were retrospectively identified from the surgical pathology database at a single large academic institution. The cohort included 149 cases: 27 low-grade and 24 high-grade pathologic T (pT)a, 29 pT1, 23 pT2, 38 pT3, and eight pT4. PD-L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on representative whole tumor sections using anti-PD-L1 primary antibody clone 5H1. PD-L1 expression was evaluated using a previously established cut-off for positivity (≥ 5% membranous staining). Association between PD-L1 IHC expression and clinicopathologic parameters was examined with Fisher's exact test; the effect of PD-L1 expression on cancer-specific mortality was assessed using the Cox proportional hazard model. Approximately one-third (32.7%) of invasive primary UTUC and 23.5% of all primary UTUC (invasive and noninvasive tumors) demonstrated positive PD-L1 expression. Positive PD-L1 expression was associated with high histologic grade, high pathologic stage, and angiolymphatic invasion. Cancer-specific survival was not significantly associated with positive PD-L1 expression using a 5% cut-off. Study limitations include the retrospective nature and the fact that PD-L1 expression by IHC is an imperfect surrogate for response to therapy. Positive PD-L1 expression in approximately one-third of primary invasive UTUC and association with high-risk clinicopathologic features provide a rational basis for further investigation of PD-L1-based immunotherapeutics in these patients. Upper tract urothelial carcinoma is often associated with poor clinical outcome. While current treatment options for advanced upper tract urothelial carcinoma are limited, programmed death-ligand 1 positivity in approximately one-third of invasive tumors provides a rational basis for further investigation of programmed death-ligand 1-based immunotherapeutics in these patients. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Secondary Education and Health Outcomes in Young People from the Cape Area Panel Study (CAPS)

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Aim Education is one of the strongest social determinants of health, yet previous literature has focused on primary education. We examined whether there are additional benefits to completing upper secondary compared to lower secondary education in a middle-income country. Methods We performed a longitudinal analysis of the Cape Area Panel Study, a survey of adolescents living in South Africa. We undertook causal modeling using structural marginal models to examine the association between level of education and various health outcomes, using inverse probability weighting to control for sex, age, ethnicity, home language, income, whether employed in past year, region of birth, maternal educational status, marital status, whether currently pregnant and cognitive ability. Educational attainment was defined as primary (grades 1–7), lower secondary (grades 8–9) or upper secondary (grades 10–12). Results Of 3,432 participants, 165 (4.8%) had completed primary education, 646 (18.8%) lower secondary and 2,621 (76.3%) upper secondary. Compared to those completing lower secondary, males completing upper secondary education were less likely to have a health problem (OR 0.49; 95%CI 0.27–0.88; p = 0.02); describe their health as poor (0.52; 0.29–0.95; p = 0.03) or report that health interferes with daily life (0.54; 0.29–0.99; p = 0.047). Females were less likely to have been pregnant (0.45; 0.33–0.61; p<0.001) or pregnant under 18 (0.32; 0.22–0.46; p<0.001); and having had sex under 16 was also less likely (males 0.63; 0.44–0.91; p = 0.01; females 0.39; 0.26–0.58; p<0.001). Cigarette smoking was less likely (males 0.52; 0.38–0.70; p = <0.001; females 0.56; 0.41–0.76; p<0.001), as was taking illicit drugs in males (0.6; 0.38–0.96; p = 0.03). No associations were found between education and alcohol use, psychological distress, obesity, increased waist circumference or hypertension. Conclusion Completing upper secondary education was associated with improved health outcomes compared with lower secondary education. Expanding upper secondary education offers middle-income countries an effective way of improving adolescent health. PMID:27280408

Secondary Education and Health Outcomes in Young People from the Cape Area Panel Study (CAPS).

PubMed

Ward, Joseph L; Viner, Russell M

2016-01-01

Education is one of the strongest social determinants of health, yet previous literature has focused on primary education. We examined whether there are additional benefits to completing upper secondary compared to lower secondary education in a middle-income country. We performed a longitudinal analysis of the Cape Area Panel Study, a survey of adolescents living in South Africa. We undertook causal modeling using structural marginal models to examine the association between level of education and various health outcomes, using inverse probability weighting to control for sex, age, ethnicity, home language, income, whether employed in past year, region of birth, maternal educational status, marital status, whether currently pregnant and cognitive ability. Educational attainment was defined as primary (grades 1-7), lower secondary (grades 8-9) or upper secondary (grades 10-12). Of 3,432 participants, 165 (4.8%) had completed primary education, 646 (18.8%) lower secondary and 2,621 (76.3%) upper secondary. Compared to those completing lower secondary, males completing upper secondary education were less likely to have a health problem (OR 0.49; 95%CI 0.27-0.88; p = 0.02); describe their health as poor (0.52; 0.29-0.95; p = 0.03) or report that health interferes with daily life (0.54; 0.29-0.99; p = 0.047). Females were less likely to have been pregnant (0.45; 0.33-0.61; p<0.001) or pregnant under 18 (0.32; 0.22-0.46; p<0.001); and having had sex under 16 was also less likely (males 0.63; 0.44-0.91; p = 0.01; females 0.39; 0.26-0.58; p<0.001). Cigarette smoking was less likely (males 0.52; 0.38-0.70; p = <0.001; females 0.56; 0.41-0.76; p<0.001), as was taking illicit drugs in males (0.6; 0.38-0.96; p = 0.03). No associations were found between education and alcohol use, psychological distress, obesity, increased waist circumference or hypertension. Completing upper secondary education was associated with improved health outcomes compared with lower secondary education. Expanding upper secondary education offers middle-income countries an effective way of improving adolescent health.

Upper extremity fractures among hospitalized road traffic accident adults.

PubMed

Rubin, Guy; Peleg, Kobi; Givon, Adi; Rozen, Nimrod

2015-02-01

Upper extremity fractures (UEFs) associated with road traffic accidents (RTAs) may result in long-term disability. Previous studies have examined UEF profiles with small patient populations. The objective of this study was to examine the injury profiles of UEFs in all mechanisms of injury related to RTAs. Data on 71,231 RTA adult patients between 1997 and 2012 whose records were entered in a centralized country trauma database were reviewed. Data on UEFs related to mechanism of injury (car, motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian) including associated injuries, multiple UEFs, and frequency of UEF were analyzed. Of 71,231 adult RTA cases recorded in 1997-2012, 12,754 (17.9%) included UEFs. Motorcycle (27%) and bicycle riders (25%) had the greater risk for UEF (P<.0001). Of 12,754 patients with UEFs, 9701 (76%) had other injuries. Pedestrians (86%) and car occupants (81%) had the greater risk for associated injuries (P<.0001). Most of the injuries were head/face/neck (52%), lower extremities (49%), and chest (46%) injuries (P<.0001). Twenty-two percent of all cases had multiple UEFs. The motorcycle riders (27%) had the greater risk for multiple UEFs (P<.0001). Of 12,754 patients with UEFs we found 16,371 UEFs. Most of the fractures were in the radius (22%), humerus (19%), and clavicle (17%) (P<.0001). This study contributes the largest database on reported adult UEFs related to all mechanisms of injury in RTAs and finds the comparative epidemiology of associated injuries, multiple UEFs, and frequency of UEFs. It is important that the treating surgeon is aware of the complexity of the UEF patient, the strong possibility for associated injury, the possibility for multiple fractures in the upper limbs, and the most common fractures associated with each mechanism of accident. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Experiments and theory on parametric instabilities excited in HF heating experiments at HAARP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuo, Spencer; Snyder, Arnold; Lee, M. C.

2014-06-01

Parametric instabilities excited by O-mode HF heater and the induced ionospheric modification were explored via HAARP digisonde operated in a fast mode. The impact of excited Langmuir waves and upper hybrid waves on the ionosphere are manifested by bumps in the virtual spread, which expand the ionogram echoes upward as much as 140 km and the downward range spread of the sounding echoes, which exceeds 50 km over a significant frequency range. The theory of parametric instabilities is presented. The theory identifies the ionogram bump located between the 3.2 MHz heater frequency and the upper hybrid resonance frequency and the bump below the upper hybrid resonance frequency to be associated with the Langmuir and upper hybrid instabilities, respectively. The Langmuir bump is located close to the upper hybrid resonance frequency, rather than to the heater frequency, consistent with the theory. Each bump in the virtual height spread of the ionogram is similar to the cusp occurring in daytime ionograms at the E-F2 layer transition, indicating that there is a small ledge in the density profile similar to E-F2 layer transitions. The experimental results also show that the strong impact of the upper hybrid instability on the ionosphere can suppress the Langmuir instability.

Experiments and theory on parametric instabilities excited in HF heating experiments at HAARP

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuo, Spencer; Snyder, Arnold; Lee, M. C.

2014-06-15

Parametric instabilities excited by O-mode HF heater and the induced ionospheric modification were explored via HAARP digisonde operated in a fast mode. The impact of excited Langmuir waves and upper hybrid waves on the ionosphere are manifested by bumps in the virtual spread, which expand the ionogram echoes upward as much as 140 km and the downward range spread of the sounding echoes, which exceeds 50 km over a significant frequency range. The theory of parametric instabilities is presented. The theory identifies the ionogram bump located between the 3.2 MHz heater frequency and the upper hybrid resonance frequency and the bump below themore » upper hybrid resonance frequency to be associated with the Langmuir and upper hybrid instabilities, respectively. The Langmuir bump is located close to the upper hybrid resonance frequency, rather than to the heater frequency, consistent with the theory. Each bump in the virtual height spread of the ionogram is similar to the cusp occurring in daytime ionograms at the E-F2 layer transition, indicating that there is a small ledge in the density profile similar to E-F2 layer transitions. The experimental results also show that the strong impact of the upper hybrid instability on the ionosphere can suppress the Langmuir instability.« less

Upper airway changes in syndromic craniosynostosis patients following midface or monobloc advancement: correlation between volume changes and respiratory outcome.

PubMed

Nout, Erik; Bannink, Natalja; Koudstaal, Maarten J; Veenland, Jifke F; Joosten, Koen F M; Poublon, Rene M L; van der Wal, Karel G H; Mathijssen, Irene M J; Wolvius, Eppo B

2012-04-01

In syndromic craniosynostosis patients, respiratory insufficiency may be a pressing indication to surgically increase the patency of the upper airway by midface or monobloc advancement. In this study the volume changes of the upper airway and the respiratory outcome following midface (Le Fort I or III) or monobloc advancement in ten syndromic craniosynostosis patients are evaluated. Pre- and postoperatively, the airway volume was measured using a semi-automatic region growing method. Respiratory data were correlated to the volume measurements. In nine patients the outcome of upper airway volume measurements correlated well to the respiratory outcome. Three of these patients showed a minimal airway volume gain or even volume loss, and no respiratory improvement was found. In one monobloc patient improvement of the respiratory outcome without an evident volume gain of the upper airway was found. The majority of patients with Le Fort III advancement showed respiratory improvement, which for the greater part correlated to the results of the volume analysis. In monobloc patients the respiratory outcomes and volume measurements were less obvious. Preoperative endoscopy of the upper airway is advocated to identify the level of obstruction in patients with residual obstructive sleep apnoea. Copyright © 2011 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Influence of Dopaminergic Striatal Innervation on Upper Limb Locomotor Synergies

PubMed Central

Isaias, Ioannis U.; Volkmann, Jens; Marzegan, Alberto; Marotta, Giorgio; Cavallari, Paolo; Pezzoli, Gianni

2012-01-01

To determine the role of striatal dopaminergic innervation on upper limb synergies during walking, we measured arm kinematics in 13 subjects with Parkinson disease. Patients were recruited according to several inclusion criteria to represent the best possible in vivo model of dopaminergic denervation. Of relevance, we included only subjects with normal spatio-temporal parameters of the stride and gait speed to avoid an impairment of upper limbs locomotor synergies as a consequence of gait impairment per se. Dopaminergic innervation of the striatum was measured by FP-CIT and SPECT. All patients showed a reduction of gait-associated arms movement. No linear correlation was found between arm ROM reduction and contralateral dopaminergic putaminal innervation loss. Still, a partition analysis revealed a 80% chance of reduced arm ROM when putaminal dopamine content loss was >47%. A significant correlation was described between the asymmetry indices of the swinging of the two arms and dopaminergic striatal innervation. When arm ROM was reduced, we found a positive correlation between upper-lower limb phase shift modulation (at different gait velocities) and striatal dopaminergic innervation. These findings are preliminary evidence that dopaminergic striatal tone plays a modulatory role in upper-limb locomotor synergies and upper-lower limb coupling while walking at different velocities. PMID:23236504

Individual muscle contributions to push and recovery subtasks during wheelchair propulsion.

PubMed

Rankin, Jeffery W; Richter, W Mark; Neptune, Richard R

2011-04-29

Manual wheelchair propulsion places considerable physical demand on the upper extremity and is one of the primary activities associated with the high prevalence of upper extremity overuse injuries and pain among wheelchair users. As a result, recent effort has focused on determining how various propulsion techniques influence upper extremity demand during wheelchair propulsion. However, an important prerequisite for identifying the relationships between propulsion techniques and upper extremity demand is to understand how individual muscles contribute to the mechanical energetics of wheelchair propulsion. The purpose of this study was to use a forward dynamics simulation of wheelchair propulsion to quantify how individual muscles deliver, absorb and/or transfer mechanical power during propulsion. The analysis showed that muscles contribute to either push (i.e., deliver mechanical power to the handrim) or recovery (i.e., reposition the arm) subtasks, with the shoulder flexors being the primary contributors to the push and the shoulder extensors being the primary contributors to the recovery. In addition, significant activity from the shoulder muscles was required during the transition between push and recovery, which resulted in increased co-contraction and upper extremity demand. Thus, strengthening the shoulder flexors and promoting propulsion techniques that improve transition mechanics have much potential to reduce upper extremity demand and improve rehabilitation outcomes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Superior Patency of Upper Arm Arteriovenous Fistulae in High Risk Patients

PubMed Central

Chiulli, Larissa C; Vasilas, Penny; Dardik, Alan

2011-01-01

Background Despite an increased propensity to primary failure in forearm arteriovenous fistulae compared to upper arm fistulae, forearm fistulae remain the preferred primary access type for chronic hemodialysis patients. In a high risk patient population with multiple medical comorbidities associated with requirement for intravenous access we compared the rates of access failure in forearm and upper arm fistulae. Materials and Methods The records of all patients having primary native arteriovenous fistulae placed between 2004 and 2009 at the VA Connecticut Healthcare system were reviewed (n=118). Primary and secondary patency of upper arm and forearm fistulae were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. The effects of medical comorbidities on access patency were analyzed with Cox regression. Results The median time to primary failure of the vascular access was 0.288 years in the forearm group compared to 0.940 years in the upper arm group (p=0.028). Secondary patency was 52% at 4.9 years in upper arm fistulae compared to 52% at 1.1 years in the forearm group (p=0.036). There was no significant effect of patient comorbidities on fistula failure; however, there was a trend toward upper arm surgical site as a protective factor for primary fistula patency (Hazard Ratio=0.573, p=0.076). Conclusions In veterans needing hemodialysis, a high risk population with extensive comorbid factors often requiring intravascular access, upper arm fistulae are not only a viable option for primary vascular access, but are likely to be a superior option to classic forearm fistulae. PMID:21571318

Cephalometric norms for the upper airway of 12-year-old Chinese children.

PubMed

Gu, Min; McGrath, Colman P J; Wong, Ricky W K; Hägg, Urban; Yang, Yanqi

2014-09-13

To establish cephalometric norms for the upper airway of 12-year-old Chinese children, and to assess these norms with regard to gender, age, ethnicity and other craniofacial structures. Lateral cephalograms were obtained from a random sample of 425 12-year-old Chinese children (224 boys and 201 girls) to establish the Chinese norms, and from a matched group of 108 12-year-old Caucasian children (61 boys and 47 girls) as an ethnic comparison. Published data on the upper airway norms of Chinese adults were used to make age comparisons. Nine upper airway and 14 craniofacial variables were measured. Chinese boys tended to have a thicker soft palate (P = 0.008), and less depth in the retropalatal (P = 0.011), retroglossal (P = 0.034) and hypopharyngeal (P < 0.001) pharynx than Chinese girls, whereas no gender dimorphism was found in Caucasian children. Ethnic differences were found in the depth of the retroglossal oropharynx in both genders and the position of the hyoid bone in boys. Compared with Chinese adults, the overall size of the upper airway in Chinese children was smaller. The mandibular body length and the craniocervical inclination were found to be statistically significantly, albeit weakly correlated with upper airway variables. Cephalometric norms for the upper airway of Chinese 12-year-old children were established, indicating gender-specific differences, and some ethnic differences were found in comparison with those of 12-year-old Caucasian children. An association between the mandibular body length and the craniocervical inclination with upper airway variables was also noticeable.

Successful Endoscopic Hemostasis Is a Protective Factor for Rebleeding and Mortality in Patients with Nonvariceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding.

PubMed

Han, Yong Jae; Cha, Jae Myung; Park, Jae Hyun; Jeon, Jung Won; Shin, Hyun Phil; Joo, Kwang Ro; Lee, Joung Il

2016-07-01

Rebleeding and mortality rates remain high in patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. To identify clinical and endoscopic risk factors for rebleeding and mortality in patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. This study was performed in patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding who underwent upper endoscopic procedures between July 2006 and February 2013. Clinical and endoscopic characteristics were compared among patients with and without rebleeding and mortality. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine independent risk factors for rebleeding and mortality. After excluding 64 patients, data for 689 patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding were analyzed. Peptic ulcer (62.6 %) was by far the most common source of bleeding. Endoscopic intervention was performed within 24 h in 99.0 % of patients, and successful endoscopic hemostasis was possible in 80.7 % of patients. The 30-day rebleeding rate was 13.1 % (n = 93). Unsuccessful endoscopic hemostasis was found to be the only independent risk factor for rebleeding (odds ratio 79.6; 95 % confidence interval 37.8-167.6; p = 0.000). The overall 30-day mortality rate was 3.2 % (n = 23). Unsuccessful endoscopic hemostasis (odds ratio 4.9; 95 % confidence interval 1.7-13.9; p = 0.003) was also associated with increased 30-day mortality in patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Successful endoscopic hemostasis is an independent protective factor for both rebleeding and mortality in patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Probability of Future Observations Exceeding One-Sided, Normal, Upper Tolerance Limits

DOE PAGES

Edwards, Timothy S.

2014-10-29

Normal tolerance limits are frequently used in dynamic environments specifications of aerospace systems as a method to account for aleatory variability in the environments. Upper tolerance limits, when used in this way, are computed from records of the environment and used to enforce conservatism in the specification by describing upper extreme values the environment may take in the future. Components and systems are designed to withstand these extreme loads to ensure they do not fail under normal use conditions. The degree of conservatism in the upper tolerance limits is controlled by specifying the coverage and confidence level (usually written inmore » “coverage/confidence” form). Moreover, in high-consequence systems it is common to specify tolerance limits at 95% or 99% coverage and confidence at the 50% or 90% level. Despite the ubiquity of upper tolerance limits in the aerospace community, analysts and decision-makers frequently misinterpret their meaning. The misinterpretation extends into the standards that govern much of the acceptance and qualification of commercial and government aerospace systems. As a result, the risk of a future observation of the environment exceeding the upper tolerance limit is sometimes significantly underestimated by decision makers. This note explains the meaning of upper tolerance limits and a related measure, the upper prediction limit. So, the objective of this work is to clarify the probability of exceeding these limits in flight so that decision-makers can better understand the risk associated with exceeding design and test levels during flight and balance the cost of design and development with that of mission failure.« less

Measures of upper limb function for people with neck pain: a systematic review of measurement and practical properties (protocol).

PubMed

Alreni, Ahmad Salah Eldin; Harrop, Deborah; Gumber, Anil; McLean, Sionnadh

2015-04-07

Upper limb disability is a common musculoskeletal condition frequently associated with neck pain. Recent literature has reported the need to utilise validated upper limb outcome measures in the assessment and management of patients with neck pain. However, there is a lack of clear guidance about the suitability of available measures, which may impede utilisation. This review will identify all available measures of upper limb function developed for use in neck pain patients and evaluate their measurement and practical properties in order to identify those measures that are most appropriate for use in clinical practice and research. This review will be performed in two phases. Phase one will identify all measures used to assess upper limb function for patients with neck pain. Phase two will identify all available studies of the measurement and practical properties of identified instrument. The COnsensus-based Standards for selection of health Measurement INstrument (COSMIN) will be used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included studies. To ensure methodological rigour, the findings of this review will be reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guideline. Optimal management of patients with neck pain should incorporate upper limb rehabilitation. The findings of this study will assist clinicians who seek to utilise suitable and accurate measures to assess upper limb function for a patient with neck pain. In addition, the findings of this study may suggest new research directions to support the development of upper limb outcome measures for patients with neck pain. PROSPERO CRD42015016624.

The upper bound to the Relative Reporting Ratio—a measure of the impact of the violation of hidden assumptions underlying some disproportionality methods used in signal detection

PubMed Central

Van Holle, Lionel; Bauchau, Vincent

2014-01-01

Purpose For disproportionality measures based on the Relative Reporting Ratio (RRR) such as the Information Component (IC) and the Empirical Bayesian Geometrical Mean (EBGM), each product and event is assumed to represent a negligible fraction of the spontaneous report database (SRD). Here, we provide the tools for allowing signal detection experts to assess the consequence of the violation of this assumption on their specific SRD. Methods For each product–event pair (P–E), a worst-case scenario associated all the reported events-of-interest with the product of interest. The values of the RRR under this scenario were measured for different sets of stratification factors using the GlaxoSmithKline vaccines SRD. These values represent the RRR upper bound that RRR cannot exceed whatever the true strength of association. Results Depending on the choice of stratification factors, the RRR could not exceed an upper bound of 2 for up to 2.4% of the P–Es. For Engerix™, 23.4% of all reports in the SDR, the RRR could not exceed an upper bound of 2 for up to 13.8% of pairs. For the P–E Rotarix™-Intussusception, the choice of stratification factors impacted the upper bound to RRR: from 52.5 for an unstratified RRR to 2.0 for a fully stratified RRR. Conclusions The quantification of the upper bound can indicate whether measures such as EBGM, IC, or RRR can be used for SRD for which products or events represent a non-negligible fraction of the entire SRD. In addition, at the level of the product or P–E, it can also highlight detrimental impact of overstratification. © 2014 The Authors. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID:24395594

Downward economic mobility and preterm birth: an exploratory study of Chicago-born upper class White mothers.

PubMed

Collins, James W; Rankin, Kristin M; David, Richard J

2015-07-01

A paucity of published data exists on the factors underlying the relatively poor birth outcome of non-Hispanic White women in the United States. To determine whether downward economic mobility is a risk factor for preterm birth (<37 weeks, PTB) among upper class-born White women. Stratified and multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed on an Illinois transgenerational dataset of non-Hispanic White infants (1989-1991) and their women (1956-1976) with appended US census income information. The study sample was restricted to singleton births of Chicago-born upper-class (defined by early-life residence in affluent neighborhoods) non-Hispanic White women. Upper class-born White women (n = 4,891) who did not experience downward economic mobility by the time of delivery had a PTB rate of 5.4 %. Those women who experienced slight (n = 5,112), moderate (n = 2,158), or extreme (n = 339) downward economic mobility had PTB rates of 6.5, 8.5, and 10.1 %, respectively; RR (95 % CI) = 1.2 (1.0-4.0), 1.6 (1.3-1.9), and 1.9 (1.3-2.6), respectively. Maternal downward economic mobility was also associated with an increased prevalence of biologic, medical, and behavioral risk factors. Interestingly, the relationship between moderate to extreme downward mobility and preterm birth was stronger among former low birth weight (<2500 g, LBW) than non-LBW women: 2.8 (1.4-5.8) versus 1.6 (1.3-1.9), respectively. In multilevel logistic regression models, the adjusted odds ratio of preterm birth for former LBW and non-LBW women who experienced any downward mobility (compared to those women with lifelong upper class status) equaled 2.4 (1.1-5.3) and 1.1 (1.0-1.1), respectively. Downward economic mobility is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth among upper class-born White urban women; this phenomenon is strongest among former low birth weight women.

Risk factors associated with PICC-related upper extremity venous thrombosis in cancer patients.

PubMed

Yi, Xiao-lei; Chen, Jie; Li, Jia; Feng, Liang; Wang, Yan; Zhu, Jia-An; Shen, E; Hu, Bing

2014-03-01

To investigate the incidence and risk factors for peripherally inserted central venous catheters-related upper extremity venous thrombosis in patients with cancer. With the widespread use of peripherally inserted central venous catheters, peripherally inserted central venous catheters-related upper extremity venous thrombosis in patients with cancer leads to increasing morbidity and mortality. It is very important to further explore the incidence and risk factors for peripherally inserted central venous catheters-related venous thrombosis. Consecutive patients with cancer who were scheduled to receive peripherally inserted central venous catheters, between September 2009 and May 2012, were prospectively studied in our centre. They were investigated for venous thrombosis by Doppler sonography three times a day within 30 days after catheter insertion. Univariable and multivariable logistic regressions' analyses were performed to identify the risk factors for peripherally inserted central venous catheters-related thrombosis. A total of 89 patients with cancer were studied in our research. Of these, 81 patients were followed up within one month. The mean interval between catheter insertion and the onset of thrombosis was 12.45 ± 6.17 days. The multivariable analyses showed that chemotherapy history, less activities and diabetes were the key risk factors for thrombosis. Peripherally inserted central venous catheters-related upper extremity venous thrombosis had high incidence rate, and most cases had no significant symptoms. The history of chemotherapy, less activities and diabetes were found to be the key risk factors. It should be routinely scanned in high-risk patients every 3-5 days after catheter insertion, which would then find blood clots in time and reduce the incidence of pulmonary embolism. Risk factors associated with peripherally inserted central venous catheters-related upper extremity venous thrombosis are of critical importance in improving the quality of patients' life. It is very important to grasp the indications to reduce the incidence rate of peripherally inserted central venous catheters-related upper extremity venous thrombosis. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Influence of Recurrent Modes of Climate Variability on the Occurrence of Monthly Temperature Extremes Over South America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loikith, Paul C.; Detzer, Judah; Mechoso, Carlos R.; Lee, Huikyo; Barkhordarian, Armineh

2017-10-01

The associations between extreme temperature months and four prominent modes of recurrent climate variability are examined over South America. Associations are computed as the percent of extreme temperature months concurrent with the upper and lower quartiles of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Atlantic Niño, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) index distributions, stratified by season. The relationship is strongest for ENSO, with nearly every extreme temperature month concurrent with the upper or lower quartiles of its distribution in portions of northwestern South America during some seasons. The likelihood of extreme warm temperatures is enhanced over parts of northern South America when the Atlantic Niño index is in the upper quartile, while cold extremes are often association with the lowest quartile. Concurrent precipitation anomalies may contribute to these relations. The PDO shows weak associations during December, January, and February, while in June, July, and August its relationship with extreme warm temperatures closely matches that of ENSO. This may be due to the positive relationship between the PDO and ENSO, rather than the PDO acting as an independent physical mechanism. Over Patagonia, the SAM is highly influential during spring and fall, with warm and cold extremes being associated with positive and negative phases of the SAM, respectively. Composites of sea level pressure anomalies for extreme temperature months over Patagonia suggest an important role of local synoptic scale weather variability in addition to a favorable SAM for the occurrence of these extremes.

Elevated Temperature and 6-7 Year Outcome of Neonatal Encephalopathy

PubMed Central

Laptook, Abbot R.; McDonald, Scott A.; Shankaran, Seetha; Stephens, Bonnie E.; Vohr, Betty R.; Guillet, Ronnie; Higgins, Rosemary D.; Das, Abhik

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE Determine if higher temperature after hypoxia-ischemia is associated with death or IQ < 70 at 6-7 yr among infants treated with intensive care without hypothermia. DESIGN/METHODS Control infants (non-cooled, n=106) of the NICHD Neonatal Research Network hypothermia trial had serial esophageal and skin temperatures over 72hrs. Each infant's temperature was ranked to derive an average of the upper and lower quartile, and median of each site. Temperatures were used in logistic regressions to determine adjusted associations with death or IQ < 70 at 6-7yrs. Secondary outcomes were death, IQ < 70, and moderate/severe CP. IQ and motor function were assessed with Wechsler Scales for Children and Gross Motor Function Classification System. Results are odds ratio (OR, per °C increment within the quartile or median) and 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS Primary outcome was available for 89 infants. At 6-7yrs death or IQ < 70 occurred in 54 infants (37 deaths, 17 survivors with IQ < 70) and moderate/severe CP in 15 infants. Death or IQ < 70 was associated with the upper quartile average of esophageal (OR 7.3, 95% CI 2.0-26.3) and skin temperature (OR 3.5, 95% 1.2-10.4). CP was associated with the upper quartile average of esophageal (OR 12.5, 95% CI 1.02-155) and skin temperature (OR 10.3, 95% 1.3-80.2). CONCLUSIONS Among non-cooled infants of a randomized trial, elevated temperatures during the first post-natal days are associated with increase odds of a worse outcome at 6-7yrs. PMID:23595408

Prospective comparison of molecular signatures in urothelial cancer of the bladder and the upper urinary tract--is there evidence for discordant biology?

PubMed

Krabbe, Laura-Maria; Lotan, Yair; Bagrodia, Aditya; Gayed, Bishoy A; Darwish, Oussama M; Youssef, Ramy F; Bolenz, Christian; Sagalowsky, Arthur I; Raj, Ganesh V; Shariat, Shahrokh F; Kapur, Payal; Margulis, Vitaly

2014-04-01

Upper tract urothelial carcinoma is rare and less well studied than bladder cancer. It remains questionable if findings in bladder cancer can safely be extrapolated to upper tract urothelial carcinoma. We prospectively evaluate molecular profiles of upper tract urothelial carcinoma and bladder cancer using a cell cycle biomarker panel. Immunohistochemical staining for p21, p27, p53, cyclin E and Ki-67 was prospectively performed for 96 patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma and 159 patients with bladder cancer with nonmetastatic high grade urothelial carcinoma treated with extirpative surgery. Data were compared between the groups according to pathological stage. Primary outcome was assessment of differences in marker expression. Secondary outcome was difference in survival according to marker status. During a median followup of 22.0 months 31.2% of patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma and 28.3% of patients with bladder cancer had disease recurrence, and 20.8% and 27.7% died of upper tract urothelial carcinoma and bladder cancer, respectively. The number of altered markers was not significantly different between the study groups. Overall 34 patients (35.4%) with upper tract urothelial carcinoma and 62 (39.0%) with bladder cancer had an unfavorable marker score (more than 2 markers altered). There were no significant differences between upper tract urothelial carcinoma and bladder cancer in the alteration status of markers, the number of altered markers and biomarker score when substratified by pathological stage. There were no significant differences in survival outcomes between patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma and those with bladder cancer according to the number of altered markers and biomarker score. Our results demonstrate the molecular similarity of upper tract urothelial carcinoma and bladder cancer in terms of cell cycle and proliferative tissue markers. These findings have important implications and support the further extrapolation of treatment paradigms established in bladder cancer to upper tract urothelial carcinoma. Copyright © 2014 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Costs and clinical outcomes of primary prophylaxis of variceal bleeding in patients with hepatic cirrhosis: a decision analytic model.

PubMed

Saab, Sammy; DeRosa, Vincent; Nieto, Jose; Durazo, Francisco; Han, Steven; Roth, Bennett

2003-04-01

Current guidelines recommend upper endoscopic screening for patients with hepatic cirrhosis and primary prophylaxis with a nonselective beta-blocker for those with large varices. However, only 25% of cirrhotics develop large varices. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the most cost-effective approach for primary prophylaxis of variceal hemorrhage. Using a Markov model, we compared the costs and clinical outcomes of three strategies for primary prophylaxis of variceal bleeding. In the first strategy, patients were given a beta-blocker without undergoing upper endoscopy. In the second strategy, patients underwent upper endoscopic screening; those found to have large varices were treated with a beta-blocker. In the third strategy, no prophylaxis was used. Selected sensitivity analyses were performed to validate outcomes. Our results show screening prophylaxis was associated with a cost of $37,300 and 5.72 quality-adjusted life yr (QALYs). Universal prophylaxis was associated with a cost of $34,100 and 6.65 QALYs. The no prophylaxis strategy was associated with a cost of $36,600 and 4.84 QALYs. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was $800/QALY for the endoscopic strategy relative to the no prophylaxis strategy. Screening endoscopy was cost saving when the compliance, bleed risk without beta-blocker, and variceal bleed costs were increased, and when the discount rate, bleed risk on beta-blockers, and cost of upper endoscopy were decreased. In contrast, the universal prophylaxis strategy was persistently cost saving relative to the no prophylaxis strategy. In comparing the strategies, sensitivity analysis on the death rates from variceal hemorrhage did not alter outcomes. Our results provide economic and clinical support for primary prophylaxis of esophageal variceal bleeding in patients with hepatic cirrhosis. Universal prophylaxis with beta-blocker is preferred because it is consistently associated with the lowest costs and highest QALYs.

Bacterial Composition of the Human Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Microbiome Is Dynamic and Associated with Genomic Instability in a Barrett’s Esophagus Cohort

PubMed Central

Gall, Alevtina; Fero, Jutta; McCoy, Connor; Claywell, Brian C.; Sanchez, Carissa A.; Blount, Patricia L.; Li, Xiaohong; Vaughan, Thomas L.; Matsen, Frederick A.; Reid, Brian J.; Salama, Nina R.

2015-01-01

Background The incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) has increased nearly five-fold over the last four decades in the United States. Barrett’s esophagus, the replacement of the normal squamous epithelial lining with a mucus-secreting columnar epithelium, is the only known precursor to EAC. Like other parts of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, the esophagus hosts a variety of bacteria and comparisons among published studies suggest bacterial communities in the stomach and esophagus differ. Chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori in the stomach has been inversely associated with development of EAC, but the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Methodology The bacterial composition in the upper GI tract was characterized in a subset of participants (n=12) of the Seattle Barrett’s Esophagus Research cohort using broad-range 16S PCR and pyrosequencing of biopsy and brush samples collected from squamous esophagus, Barrett’s esophagus, stomach corpus and stomach antrum. Three of the individuals were sampled at two separate time points. Prevalence of H. pylori infection and subsequent development of aneuploidy (n=339) and EAC (n=433) was examined in a larger subset of this cohort. Results/Significance Within individuals, bacterial communities of the stomach and esophagus showed overlapping community membership. Despite closer proximity, the stomach antrum and corpus communities were less similar than the antrum and esophageal samples. Re-sampling of study participants revealed similar upper GI community membership in two of three cases. In this Barrett’s esophagus cohort, Streptococcus and Prevotella species dominate the upper GI and the ratio of these two species is associated with waist-to-hip ratio and hiatal hernia length, two known EAC risk factors in Barrett’s esophagus. H. pylori-positive individuals had a significantly decreased incidence of aneuploidy and a non-significant trend toward lower incidence of EAC. PMID:26076489

Psychosocial Risk Factors for Upper Respiratory Infections: Effects of Upper Respiratory Illness on Academic Performance in U.S. Navy Basic Training

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-15

training which take the form of somatisized distress or situational hypochondriasis . If so, URI-performance associations would be spurious. This...indications of hypochondriasis or symptom reporting as a form of psychological distress. General Synptom Reporting was used in the present study to test...the distress hypothesis was not supported. General Symptom Reporting did affect URI, but somatically -expressed distress could not be a cause of

Brachioplasty outcomes: a review of a multipractice cohort.

PubMed

Zomerlei, Terri A; Neaman, Keith C; Armstrong, Shannon D; Aitken, Marguerite E; Cullen, William T; Ford, Ronald D; Renucci, John D; VanderWoude, Douglas L

2013-04-01

Upper arm deformities secondary to massive weight loss or senile elastosis have led to an increased demand for aesthetic contouring procedures such as brachioplasty. The records of all patients who underwent a brachioplasty procedure from a multipractice medical center were reviewed. Outcomes measured included patient demographics, operative interventions, and postoperative course. Ninety-six patients were analyzed. Fifty-three patients (55.2 percent) underwent a concomitant procedure, with 53.1 percent undergoing arm liposuction at the time of brachioplasty. Major and minor complications rates were 17.7 percent and 44.8 percent, respectively. Common complications included hypertrophic scarring (24.0 percent) and infection (14.6 percent). The total revision rate was 22.9 percent, with residual contour deformity (40.9 percent of revisions) and hypertrophic scarring (36.4 percent of revisions) representing the most common causes for revision. Patients who underwent a previous bariatric procedure were at an increased risk of developing a major complication (p = 0.02). Concomitant upper arm liposuction and concomitant procedures were not associated with a significantly increased complication rate. Brachioplasty, despite being an effective treatment for contour irregularities of the upper arm, is associated with significant revision and complication rates. Post-bariatric surgery patients should be informed of the potential for increased complications. Additional procedures performed at the time of brachioplasty do not significantly increase complications. Liposuction of the upper arm can be performed safely in conjunction with brachioplasty.

[Study of the relationship between congenital missing of the third molar and the development of the mandibular angle].

PubMed

Chen, Yan-Na; Zheng, Bo-Wen; Liu, Yi

2017-02-01

Based on the research of the congenital missing of the third molar and the missing number, the relationship beteen congenital missing of the third molar and the development of the mandibular angle was evaluated. Patients were divided into experimental group and control group, the experimental group included 227 patients, each had at least one of the third molars congenital lost; 227 patients who had four third molar were selected as control group. Winceph software was used to measure the lateral cephalograms. SPSS17.0 software package was used to perform statistical analysis. Gonial angle, upper Gonial angle and lower Gonial angle between the experimental group and the control group showed significant difference and the values in the experimental group were significantly smaller than in the control group, but there was no gender difference between the two groups.There was no difference between Gonial angle, upper Gonial angle,lower Gonial angle and the missing number of the third molar. There is a close relationship between congenital missing third molar and Gonial angle, upper Gonial angle, lower Gonial angle, but there is no significant association with gender and the patients with congenital missing third molar have shorter craniofacial structure. Congenital missing number of the third molar has no significant association with Gonial angle, upper Gonial angle and lower Gonial angle.

Civilian traumatic vascular injuries of the upper extremity:report of the Iranian national trauma project.

PubMed

Rasouli, Mohammad R; Moini, Majid; Khaji, Ali

2009-12-01

The determination of the pattern of traumatic vascular injuries of the upper extremity in Iran was the aim of this study. Data of the Iranian national trauma project were used to identify patients with upper extremity vascular injuries. This project was conducted in 8 major cities from 2000-2004. A total of 113 cases with 130 vascular injuries were found, including 2 axillary, 18 brachial, and 69 radial and ulnar arteries. In 91 cases (81%), penetrating trauma was responsible. Associated nerve and/or upper extremity fractures were seen in 20% and 18% of cases, respectively. End-to-end anastomosis, interposition of saphenous graft, and ligation were used for the management of 44%, 28%, and 17%, respectively, of brachial artery injuries. Ulnar and radial artery injuries had been either ligated (n = 36; 52%) or sutured (n = 33; 48%). Median, ulnar, and radial nerve injuries, except for one, had all been sutured primarily. No patients needed fasciotomy. Amputation and mortality resulting from associated injuries occurred in 3 (2.6%) and 5 (4.4%) patients, respectively. This study revealed that stabbings are the most frequent causes of these injuries in Iran, in spite of the management of patients in level 3 trauma centers; the rate of amputation is acceptable. However, this study does not provide limb functions of the patients.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder may be a highly inflammation and immune-associated disease (Review).

PubMed

Zhou, Rong-Yi; Wang, Jiao-Jiao; Sun, Ji-Chao; You, Yue; Ying, Jing-Nang; Han, Xin-Min

2017-10-01

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common behavioral disorder. Previous research has indicated that genetic factors, family education, environment and dietary habits are associated with ADHD. It has been determined that in China many children with ADHD also have allergic rhinitis or asthma. These children are more susceptible to the common cold or upper respiratory infections compared with normal healthy children. Additionally, the common cold or an upper respiratory infection may lead to disease recurrence or worsen the symptoms in these children. Previous studies have determined that ADHD may have a close association with allergic disease. Based on the clinically observed phenomenon and previous studies, it was hypothesized that ADHD is a high inflammation and immune‑associated disease. Therefore, the authors designed clinical and animal experiments to test this hypothesis in the future. Immune system disorders may be a novel part of the etiology of ADHD. The current report may have implications for future clinical practice.

Risk factors associated with catheter-related upper extremity deep vein thrombosis in patients with peripherally inserted central venous catheters: literature review: part 1.

PubMed

Clemence, Bonnie J; Maneval, Rhonda E

2014-01-01

This is part 1 of a 2-part series of articles that report on the results of a prospective observational cohort study designed to examine the risk factors associated with symptomatic upper extremity deep vein thrombosis (UEDVT) in patients with peripherally inserted central catheters. This article provides an extensive review and critique of the literature that serves to explicate what is currently known about risk factors associated with catheter-related UEDVT. Risk factors such as anticoagulant use, cancer, infection, hypertension, catheter tip placement, and catheter size were identified most frequently in the literature as being associated with UEDVT development. Other risk factors--such as obesity, smoking history, surgery, and presence of pain or edema--were examined in a limited number of studies and lacked consistent evidence of their impact on UEDVT development. The subsequent study that evolved from the review of the literature investigates the relationship between identified risk factors and UEDVT development.

Inverse association between toothbrushing and upper aerodigestive tract cancer risk in a Japanese population.

PubMed

Sato, Fumihito; Oze, Isao; Kawakita, Daisuke; Yamamoto, Noriyuki; Ito, Hidemi; Hosono, Satoyo; Suzuki, Takeshi; Kawase, Takakazu; Furue, Hiroki; Watanabe, Miki; Hatooka, Shunzo; Yatabe, Yasushi; Hasegawa, Yasuhisa; Shinoda, Masayuki; Ueda, Minoru; Tajima, Kazuo; Tanaka, Hideo; Matsuo, Keitaro

2011-11-01

Oral hygiene is attracting increasing attention as a potential risk factor for cancers. To investigate the association between toothbrushing frequency and upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) cancer, the authors conducted a large-scale case-control study. A total of 856 UADT cancer case participants and 2696 age- and sex-matched control subjects without cancer were included. Edentulous or participants with unknown frequency of toothbrushing or number of remaining teeth were excluded. Associations were assessed by odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals in logistic regression models with adjustment for potential confounders. Compared with toothbrushing once per day, the adjusted odds ratio for brushing twice or more was 0.82 (95% confidence interval: 0.68, 0.99) whereas that for not brushing was 1.79 (0.79, 4.05). This association was observed especially in subjects who had a history of heavy smoking or drinking. The authors suggest that toothbrushing could have a protective effect for UADT cancer. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Genomic regions controlling shape variation in the first upper molar of the house mouse

PubMed Central

Pantalacci, Sophie; Turner, Leslie M; Steingrimsson, Eirikur; Renaud, Sabrina

2017-01-01

Numerous loci of large effect have been shown to underlie phenotypic variation between species. However, loci with subtle effects are presumably more frequently involved in microevolutionary processes but have rarely been discovered. We explore the genetic basis of shape variation in the first upper molar of hybrid mice between Mus musculus musculus and M. m. domesticus. We performed the first genome-wide association study for molar shape and used 3D surface morphometrics to quantify subtle variation between individuals. We show that many loci of small effect underlie phenotypic variation, and identify five genomic regions associated with tooth shape; one region contained the gene microphthalmia-associated transcription factor Mitf that has previously been associated with tooth malformations. Using a panel of five mutant laboratory strains, we show the effect of the Mitf gene on tooth shape. This is the first report of a gene causing subtle but consistent variation in tooth shape resembling variation in nature. PMID:29091026

Learning & Growing: Integrating Technology Undergraduates into the Development of an Industrial Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newton, Kathryne; Schmidt, Edie

2004-01-01

A national industrial distribution association approached the authors to develop a case study for its association members. The national association assumed responsibility for identifying educational needs of upper level, mid level, and lower level personnel in the industry. In the previous year, a case study had been developed to educate upper…

Barrier island facies models and recognition criteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mulhern, J.; Johnson, C. L.

2017-12-01

Barrier island outcrops record transgressive shoreline motion at geologic timescales, providing integral clues to understanding how coastlines respond to rising sea levels. However, barrier island deposits are difficult to recognize. While significant progress has been made in understanding the modern coastal morphodynamics, this insight is not fully leveraged in existing barrier island facies models. Excellent outcrop exposures of the paralic Upper Cretaceous Straight Cliffs Formation of southern Utah provide an opportunity to revise facies models and recognition criteria for barrier island deposits. Preserved barrier islands are composed of three main architectural elements (shorefaces, tidal inlets, and tidal channels) which occur independently or in combination to create larger-scale barrier island deposits. Barrier island shorefaces record progradation, while barrier island tidal inlets record lateral migration, and barrier island tidal channels record aggradation within the tidal inlet. Four facies associations are used to describe and characterize these barrier island architectural elements. Barrier islands occur in association with backarrier fill and internally contain lower and upper shoreface, high-energy upper shoreface, and tidal channel facies. Barrier islands bound lagoons or estuaries, and are distinguished from other shoreface deposits by their internal facies and geometry, association with backbarrier facies, and position within transgressive successions. Tidal processes, in particular tidal inlet migration and reworking of the upper shoreface, also distinguish barrier island deposits. Existing barrier island models highlight the short term heterogeneous and dynamic nature of barrier island systems, yet overlook processes tied to geologic time scales, such as multi-directional motion, erosion, and reworking, and their expressions in preserved barrier island strata. This study uses characteristic outcrop expressions of barrier island successions to exemplify how modern morphodynamic concepts can be combined with geologic time-scale processes to update understanding of ancient barrier island motion and preservation.

Association of arthritis and vitamin D insufficiency with physical disability in Mexican older adults: findings from the Mexican Health and Aging Study.

PubMed

Valderrama-Hinds, Luis M; Al Snih, Soham; Rodriguez, Martin A; Wong, Rebeca

2017-04-01

Arthritis and vitamin D insufficiency are prevalent in older adults and are risk factors for disability. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of co-occurring arthritis and vitamin D deficiency on upper-lower extremity functional limitations and disability in older adults. We examined 1533 participants aged ≥50 years from a subsample of the Mexican Health and Aging Study. Measures included sociodemographics, body mass index, comorbid conditions, falls, physical activity, physical function tests, functional limitations, activities of daily living (ADL), and vitamin D. Participants were categorized into four groups according to arthritis and vitamin D status: no vitamin D insufficiency and no arthritis (58.80%), vitamin D insufficiency only (27.49%), arthritis only (8.47%), and arthritis and vitamin D insufficiency (5.24%). Fourteen percent reported arthritis, and 31.2% had vitamin D insufficiency. The arthritis and vitamin D insufficiency group was associated with upper-lower extremity functional limitations [odds ratio (OR) 1.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-3.15, and OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.00-3.62, respectively] and ADL disability (OR 3.00, 95% CI 1.63-5.51) when compared with the no vitamin D insufficiency and no arthritis group (reference group). The arthritis only group was three times more likely to report upper-lower extremity functional limitations and ADL disability. The vitamin D insufficiency only group was not significantly associated with functional limitations nor ADL disability. Arthritis and vitamin D insufficiency increased the risk of ADL disability in this population. However, the effect of arthritis and vitamin D insufficiency on upper-lower extremity functional limitations was not higher than the effect of arthritis only, but higher than the effect on vitamin D insufficiency alone.

An analysis of five negative sprite-parent discharges and their associated thunderstorm charge structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boggs, Levi D.; Liu, Ningyu; Splitt, Michael; Lazarus, Steven; Glenn, Chad; Rassoul, Hamid; Cummer, Steven A.

2016-01-01

In this study we analyze the discharge morphologies of five confirmed negative sprite-parent discharges and the associated charge structures of the thunderstorms that produced them. The negative sprite-parent lightning took place in two thunderstorms that were associated with a tropical disturbance in east central and south Florida. The first thunderstorm, which moved onshore in east central Florida, produced four of the five negative sprite-parent discharges within a period of 17 min, as it made landfall from the Atlantic Ocean. These negative sprite-parents were composed of bolt-from-the-blue (BFB), hybrid intracloud-negative cloud-to-ground (IC-NCG), and multicell IC-NCGs discharges. The second thunderstorm, which occurred inland over south Florida, produced a negative sprite-parent that was a probable hybrid IC-NCG discharge and two negative gigantic jets (GJs). Weakened upper positive charge with very large midlevel negative charge was inferred for both convective cells that initiated the negative-sprite-parent discharges. Our study suggests tall, intense convective systems with high wind shear at the middle to upper regions of the cloud accompanied by low cloud-to-ground (CG) flash rates promote these charge structures. The excess amount of midlevel negative charge results in these CG discharges transferring much more charge to ground than typical negative CG discharges. We find that BFB discharges prefer an asymmetrical charge structure that brings the negative leader exiting the upper positive charge region closer to the lateral positive screening charge layer. This may be the main factor in determining whether a negative leader exiting the upper positive region of the thundercloud forms a BFB or GJ.

Outcomes of patients hospitalized with peptic ulcer disease diagnosed in acute upper endoscopy.

PubMed

Malmi, Hanna; Kautiainen, Hannu; Virta, Lauri J; Färkkilä, Martti A

2017-11-01

The incidence and complications of peptic ulcer disease (PUD) have declined, but mortality from bleeding ulcers has remained unchanged. The aims of the current study were to evaluate the significance of PUD among patients admitted for acute upper endoscopy and to evaluate the survival of PUD patients. In this prospective, observational cohort study, data on 1580 acute upper endoscopy cases during 2012-2014 were collected. A total of 649 patients were included with written informed consent. Data on patients' characteristics, living habits, comorbidities, drug use, endoscopy and short-term and long-term survival were collected. Of all patients admitted for endoscopy, 147/649 (23%) had PUD with the main symptom of melena. Of these PUD patients, 35% had major stigmata of bleeding (Forrest Ia-IIb) in endoscopy. Patients with major stigmata had significantly more often renal insufficiency, lower level of blood pressure with tachycardia and lower level of haemoglobin, platelets and ratio of thromboplastin time. No differences in drug use, Charlson comorbidity class, BMI, smoking or alcohol use were found. Of the PUD patients, 31% were Helicobacter pylori positive. The 30-day mortality was 0.7% (95% confidence interval: 0.01-4.7), 1-year mortality was 12.9% (8.4-19.5) and the 2-year mortality was 19.4% (13.8-26.8), with no difference according to major or minor stigmata of bleeding. Comorbidity (Charlson>1) was associated with decreased survival (P=0.029) and obesity (BMI≥30) was associated with better survival (P=0.023). PUD is still the most common cause for acute upper endoscopy with very low short-term mortality. Comorbidity, but not the stigmata of bleeding, was associated with decreased long-term survival.

Number and Location of Positive Nodes, Postoperative Radiotherapy, and Survival After Esophagectomy With Three-Field Lymph Node Dissection for Thoracic Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen Junqiang; Pan Jianji, E-mail: panjianji@126.com; Zheng Xiongwei

2012-01-01

Purpose: To analyze influences of the number and location of positive lymph nodes and postoperative radiotherapy on survival for patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (TE-SCC) treated with radical esophagectomy with three-field lymphadenectomy. Methods and Materials: A total of 945 patients underwent radical esophagectomy plus three-field lymph node dissection for node-positive TE-SCC at Fujian Provincial Tumor Hospital between January 1993 and March 2007. Five hundred ninety patients received surgery only (S group), and 355 patients received surgery, followed 3 to 4 weeks later by postoperative radiotherapy (S+R group) to a median total dose of 50 Gy in 25 fractions.more » We assessed potential associations among patient-, tumor-, and treatment-related factors and overall survival. Results: Five-year overall survival rates were 32.8% for the entire group, 29.6% for the S group, and 38.0% for the S+R group (p = 0.001 for S vs. S+R). Treatment with postoperative radiotherapy was particularly beneficial for patients with {>=}3 positive nodes and for those with metastasis in the upper (supraclavicular and upper mediastinal) region or both the upper and lower (mediastinal and abdominal) regions (p < 0.05). Postoperative radiotherapy was also associated with lower recurrence rates in the supraclavicular and upper and middle mediastinal regions (p < 0.05). Sex, primary tumor length, number of positive nodes, pathological T category, and postoperative radiotherapy were all independent predictors of survival. Conclusions: Postoperative radiotherapy was associated with better survival for patients with node-positive TE-SCC, particularly those with three or more positive nodes and positive nodes in the supraclavicular and superior mediastinal regions.« less

High effort, low reward, and cardiovascular risk factors in employed Swedish men and women: baseline results from the WOLF Study

PubMed Central

Peter, R.; Alfredsson, L.; Hammar, N.; Siegrist, J.; Theorell, T.; Westerholm, P.

1998-01-01

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine associations between measures of work stress (that is, the combination of high effort and low reward) and cardiovascular risk factors. DESIGN: Cross sectional first screening of a prospective cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The study was conducted among 5720 healthy employed men and women living in the greater Stockholm area aged 19-70 years. All analyses were restricted to subjects with complete data (n = 4958). The investigation of associations between indicators of effort-reward imbalance and cardiovascular risk factors was restricted to the age group 30-55 years (n = 3427). MAIN RESULTS: Subjects reporting high effort and low reward at work had a higher prevalence of well known risk factors for coronary heart disease. After adjustment for relevant confounders, associations between a measure of extrinsic effort and reward (the effort-reward ratio) and hypertension (multivariate prevalence odds ratio (POR) 1.62- 1.68), increased total cholesterol (upper tertile 220 mg/dl)(POR = 1.24) and the total cholesterol/high density lipoprotein(HDL)- cholesterol ratio (upper tertile 4.61)(POR 1.26-1.30) were found among men. Among women a measure of high intrinsic effort (immersion) was related to increased low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol (upper tertile 130 mg/dl)(POR 1.37-1.39). Analyses of variance showed increasing mean values of LDL cholesterol with an increasing degree of the effort-reward ratio among men and increased LDL-cholesterol among women with high levels of intrinsic effort (upper tertile of immersion). CONCLUSIONS: Findings lend support to the hypothesis that effort-reward imbalance represents a specific constellation of stressful experience at work related to cardiovascular risk. The relation was not explained by relevant confounders (for example, lack of physical exercise, body weight, cigarette smoking).   PMID:10320854

Upper-extremity musculoskeletal symptoms and physical health related quality of life among women employed in poultry processing and other low-wage jobs in northeastern North Carolina.

PubMed

McPhee, C S; Lipscomb, H J

2009-04-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between upper-extremity musculoskeletal symptoms (MS) and diminished physical health related quality of life (PHRQoL) in a population of women, mostly African-American working in poultry processing and other low-wage jobs in rural northeastern North Carolina. A cross-sectional analysis was performed on baseline data of self-reported PHRQoL and musculoskeletal symptoms for 291 poultry processing workers and 299 community comparison women. Logarithmic binomial regression was performed to assess the relationship between moderate to severe MS on low PHRQoL. Prevalence of poor PHRQoL was 35.5% among poultry processing workers, and 14.7% among community comparison group. Moderate to severe upper-extremity musculoskeletal symptoms were present in 34.4% of the poultry workers and 10.7% of the comparison group. After adjusting for age and other chronic conditions, moderate to severe musculoskeletal symptoms were associated with low PHRQoL in both groups. Although the observed effect was stronger among the comparison group (adjusted prevalence ratios (95% confidence interval): poultry workers = 1.89 (1.36, 2.64), community comparison = 4.26 (2.51, 7.24), the population attributable risk percent was similar (poultry workers = 28.9, community comparison = 31.3%)) due to the higher prevalence of moderate to severe symptoms in the poultry workers. Significant upper-extremity musculoskeletal symptoms were associated with poor PHRQoL among both groups of women employed in low-wage jobs. Nationwide, poultry work is over-represented by minorities and immigrants. Though challenging, we need to search for ways to improve the conditions of these women as a matter of social justice.

The creative brain in the figural domain: Distinct patterns of EEG alpha power during idea generation and idea elaboration.

PubMed

Rominger, Christian; Papousek, Ilona; Perchtold, Corinna M; Weber, Bernhard; Weiss, Elisabeth M; Fink, Andreas

2018-02-13

This study investigated EEG activity in the upper alpha band during the well-known Picture Completion Task of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT), a widely used creative ideation task in the figural domain. The application of a sophisticated computerized version of the TTCT facilitating the online assessment and digitalizing of participant's drawings allowed to separate two central stages of the creative ideation process (i.e., idea generation and idea elaboration). During idea generation, the participants' task was to generate an initial draft of an original and creative completion of the presented abstract lines and figures of the TTCT. During idea elaboration, the participants were required to mentally improve the originality of the initially generated idea/draft. Creative ideation in this figural task was generally associated with comparatively strong desynchronization of upper alpha power over parietal and occipital sites, indicating high visual/figural processing demands. Interestingly, the stage of idea elaboration was accompanied by a relative increase of upper alpha power at parietal and occipital sites compared to the stage of idea generation, indicating heightened top-down processing demands. Furthermore, task performance was associated with relative increases of upper alpha power at frontal sites and relative decreases at centro-temporal sites from the stage of idea generation to idea elaboration. This association suggests the importance of increased inhibitory control over stimulus-based bottom-up information and motor imagery in order to achieve more creative outputs. Taken together these findings add to the relevant literature in that they a) extend research on the relationship between EEG alpha activity and creativity to the figural domain, and b) support a multistage view of creative ideation, involving cognitive control and mental imagery as important components of creativity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing physical function in adult acquired major upper-limb amputees by combining the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) Outcome Questionnaire and clinical examination.

PubMed

Ostlie, Kristin; Franklin, Rosemary J; Skjeldal, Ola H; Skrondal, Anders; Magnus, Per

2011-10-01

To describe physical function in adult acquired major upper-limb amputees (ULAs) by combining self-assessed arm function and physical measures obtained by clinical examinations; to estimate associations between background factors and self-assessed arm function in ULAs; and to assess whether clinical examination findings may be used to detect reduced arm function in unilateral ULAs. postal questionnaires and clinical examinations. Norwegian ULA population. Clinical examinations performed at 3 clinics. Questionnaires: population-based sample (n=224; 57.4% response rate). Clinical examinations: combined referred sample and convenience sample of questionnaire responders (n=70; 83.3% of those invited). SURVEY inclusion criteria: adult acquired major upper-limb amputation, resident in Norway, mastering of spoken and written Norwegian. Not applicable. The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) Outcome Questionnaire, and clinical examination of joint motion and muscle strength with and without prostheses. Mean DASH score was 22.7 (95% confidence interval [CI], 20.3-25.0); in bilateral amputees, 35.7 (95% CI, 23.0-48.4); and in unilateral amputees, 22.1 (95% CI, 19.8-24.5). A lower unilateral DASH score (better function) was associated with paid employment (vs not in paid employment: adjusted regression coefficient [aB]=-5.40, P=.033; vs students: aB=-13.88, P=.022), increasing postamputation time (aB=-.27, P=.001), and Norwegian ethnicity (aB=-14.45, P<.001). At clinical examination, we found a high frequency of impaired neck mobility and varying frequencies of impaired joint motion and strength at the shoulder, elbow, and forearm level. Prosthesis wear was associated with impaired joint motion in all upper-limb joints (P<.006) and with reduced shoulder abduction strength (P=.002). Impaired without-prosthesis joint motion in shoulder flexion (ipsilateral: aB=12.19, P=.001) and shoulder abduction (ipsilateral: aB=12.01, P=.005; contralateral: aB=28.82, P=.004) was associated with increased DASH scores. Upper-limb loss clearly affects physical function. DASH score limitation profiles may be useful in individual clinical assessments. Targeted clinical examination may indicate patients with extra rehabilitational needs. Such examinations may be of special importance in relation to prosthesis function. Copyright © 2011 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bacterial colonization patterns in mechanically ventilated patients with traumatic and medical head injury. Incidence, risk factors, and association with ventilator-associated pneumonia.

PubMed

Ewig, S; Torres, A; El-Ebiary, M; Fábregas, N; Hernández, C; González, J; Nicolás, J M; Soto, L

1999-01-01

We prospectively evaluated the relation of upper airway, lower airway, and gastric colonization patterns with the development of pneumonia and its etiology in 48 patients with surgical (n = 25) and medical (n = 23) head injury. Initial colonization was assessed by cultures of nasal and pharyngeal swabs, tracheobronchial aspirates, gastric juice, and bronchoscopically retrieved protected specimen brush. Follow-up colonization was determined until the end points extubation, suspected ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), or death. The initial colonization rate at any site at ICU admission was 39/47 (83%). It mainly accounted for Group I pathogens (Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Hemophilus influenzae) of the upper and lower airways. At follow-up, colonization rates with Group II pathogens (Gram-negative enteric bacilli and Pseudomonas spp.) increased significantly. The high initial bacterial load with Group I pathogens of the upper airways and trachea decreased during Days 2 to 4, whereas that of Group II pathogens increased. Upper airway colonization was an independent predictor of follow-up tracheobronchial colonization (odds ratio [OR], 9.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8 to 56.3 for initial colonization with Group I pathogens; OR, 23.9; 95% CI, 3.8 to 153.3 for follow-up colonization with Group II pathogens). Previous (short-term) antibiotics had a protective effect against colonization with Group I pathogens of the lower respiratory tract (OR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.05 to 0.86), but they were a risk factor for colonization with Group II pathogens (OR, 6.1; 95% CI, 1.3 to 29). Initial tracheobronchial colonization with Group I pathogens was associated with a higher probability of early onset pneumonia (OR, 4. 1; 95% CI, 0.7 to 23.3), whereas prolonged antibiotic treatment (> 24 h) independently predicted late-onset pneumonia (OR, 9.2; 95% CI, 1.7 to 51.3). We conclude that patients with head injury are colonized in the airways mainly by Group I pathogens early in the evolution of illness. The upper airways represent the main reservoir for subsequent lower airway colonization with Group I pathogens. Previous (short-term) antibiotic treatment is protective against initial tracheobronchial colonization with Group I pathogens, but it represents a risk factor for subsequent lower airway colonization by Group II pathogens.

Disability self-assessment and upper quarter muscle balance between female dental hygienists and non-dental hygienists.

PubMed

Johnson, Eric G; Godges, Joseph J; Lohman, Everett B; Stephens, Joni A; Zimmerman, Grenith J; Anderson, Sharon P

2003-01-01

The purpose of this pilot study was to compare disability self-assessment and upper quarter muscle balance female dental hygienists and non dental hygienist females. The upper quarter was operationally defined as the shoulder and neck region. Muscle balance was operationally defined as muscle flexibility and muscle performance. A convenience sample of 41 working dental hygienists and 46 non dental hygienists participated in the study. Muscle flexibility of the upper quarter was measured by inclinometry or standard muscle length testing. Muscle performance was measured by timing the duration of four statically maintained positions. Subjects filled out the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPNPQ), which is a disability self-assessment. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used during data analysis to adjust for the mean age difference between the dental hygienist group (38.0 years) and the non-dental hygienist group (29.3 years). The results of this pilot study suggest that female dental hygienists are more likely than non dental hygienist females to develop tightness in the upper trapezius (p = 0.007) and the levator scapula (p = 0.01) of the non dominant upper quarter and lower fibers of the pectoralis major of the dominant upper quarter (p = 0.03) Muscle performance trends in the dental hygienist group supported muscle balance theory that short muscles remain strong while lengthened muscles become weak. The dental hygienist group had higher disability scores in all nine parts of the NPNPQ compared to the non-dental hygienist group, five of which were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The results of this pilot study suggest that muscle imbalances in the upper quarter are more common in female dental hygienists than in female non dental hygienists and may contribute to the numerous upper quarter pathologies associated with the practice of dental hygiene. Further research is needed to determine if upper quarter strengthening and flexibility exercises performed by dental hygienists can reduce disability self-assessment.

Are gender differences in upper-body power generated by elite cross-country skiers augmented by increasing the intensity of exercise?

PubMed

Hegge, Ann Magdalen; Myhre, Kenneth; Welde, Boye; Holmberg, Hans-Christer; Sandbakk, Øyvind

2015-01-01

In the current study, we evaluated the impact of exercise intensity on gender differences in upper-body poling among cross-country skiers, as well as the associated differences in aerobic capacity, maximal strength, body composition, technique and extent of training. Eight male and eight female elite skiers, gender-matched for level of performance by FIS points, carried out a 4-min submaximal, and a 3-min and 30-sec maximal all-out test of isolated upper-body double poling on a Concept2 ski ergometer. Maximal upper-body power and strength (1RM) were determined with a pull-down exercise. In addition, body composition was assessed with a DXA scan and training during the previous six months quantified from diaries. Relative to the corresponding female values (defined as 100%), the power output produced by the men was 88%, 95% and 108% higher during the submaximal, 3-min and 30-sec tests, respectively, and peak power in the pull-down strength exercise was 118% higher (all P<0.001). During the ergometer tests the work performed per cycle by the men was 97%, 102% and 91% greater, respectively, and the men elevated their cycle rate to a greater extent at higher intensities (both P<0.01). Furthermore, men had a 61% higher VO2peak, 58% higher 1RM, relatively larger upper-body mass (61% vs 56%) and reported considerably more upper-body strength and endurance training (all P<0.05). In conclusion, gender differences in upper-body power among cross-country skiers augmented as the intensity of exercise increased. The gender differences observed here are greater than those reported previously for both lower- and whole-body sports and coincided with greater peak aerobic capacity and maximal upper-body strength, relatively more muscle mass in the upper-body, and more extensive training of upper-body strength and endurance among the male skiers.

Are Gender Differences in Upper-Body Power Generated by Elite Cross-Country Skiers Augmented by Increasing the Intensity of Exercise?

PubMed Central

Hegge, Ann Magdalen; Myhre, Kenneth; Welde, Boye; Holmberg, Hans-Christer; Sandbakk, Øyvind

2015-01-01

In the current study, we evaluated the impact of exercise intensity on gender differences in upper-body poling among cross-country skiers, as well as the associated differences in aerobic capacity, maximal strength, body composition, technique and extent of training. Eight male and eight female elite skiers, gender-matched for level of performance by FIS points, carried out a 4-min submaximal, and a 3-min and 30-sec maximal all-out test of isolated upper-body double poling on a Concept2 ski ergometer. Maximal upper-body power and strength (1RM) were determined with a pull-down exercise. In addition, body composition was assessed with a DXA scan and training during the previous six months quantified from diaries. Relative to the corresponding female values (defined as 100%), the power output produced by the men was 88%, 95% and 108% higher during the submaximal, 3-min and 30-sec tests, respectively, and peak power in the pull-down strength exercise was 118% higher (all P<0.001). During the ergometer tests the work performed per cycle by the men was 97%, 102% and 91% greater, respectively, and the men elevated their cycle rate to a greater extent at higher intensities (both P<0.01). Furthermore, men had a 61% higher VO2peak, 58% higher 1RM, relatively larger upper-body mass (61% vs 56%) and reported considerably more upper-body strength and endurance training (all P<0.05). In conclusion, gender differences in upper-body power among cross-country skiers augmented as the intensity of exercise increased. The gender differences observed here are greater than those reported previously for both lower- and whole-body sports and coincided with greater peak aerobic capacity and maximal upper-body strength, relatively more muscle mass in the upper-body, and more extensive training of upper-body strength and endurance among the male skiers. PMID:26000713

Suspected microbial-induced sedimentary structures (MISS) in Furongian (Upper Cambrian; Jiangshanian, Sunwaptan) strata of the Upper Mississippi Valley

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eoff, Jennifer D.

2014-01-01

The Furongian (Upper Cambrian; Jiangshanian and Sunwaptan) Tunnel City Group (Lone Rock Formation and Mazomanie Formation), exposed in Wisconsin and Minnesota, represents a shallow-marine clastic environment during a time of exceptionally high sea level. Lithofacies from shoreface to transitional-offshore settings document deposition in a wave- and storm-dominated sea. Flooding of the cratonic interior was associated with formation of a condensed section and the extensive development of microbial mats. Biolamination, mat fragments, wrinkle structures, and syneresis cracks are preserved in various sandstone facies of the Lone Rock Formation, as is evidence for the cohesive behavior of sand. These microbial-induced sedimentary structures (MISS) provide unique signals of biological–physical processes that physical structures alone cannot mimic. The MISS are associated with a trilobite extinction event in the Steptoean–Sunwaptan boundary interval. This may support recent claims that Phanerozoic microbial mats were opportunistic disaster forms that flourished during periods of faunal turnover. Further investigation of stratigraphic, taphonomic, and other potential biases, however, is needed to fully test this hypothesis.

[The synaptic proteins of the temporal associative area in the neocortex (field Ep) of cats with normal and decreased cognitive capacities].

PubMed

Zakharova (Orlova), E I; Mukhin, E I

1994-01-01

Fractions of light and heavy synaptosomes were prepared from associative temporal area of cat brain, which were previously tested behaviorally for ability to solve the generalization, gnostic and abstraction tasks. The synaptic membrane subfractions and synaptoplasma fractions were isolated and the content of the total protein and of the demasked protein sulfhydryl groups (SH groups) was investigated spectrophotometrically. The maximal content of the demasked SH groups was revealed in the upper subfractions (mainly the membranes of cholinergic synapses) and minimal content--in the lower subfractions (mainly noncholinergic synapses). Significantly smaller total protein content in the upper and middle subfractions of light synaptosomes was found, and more demasked SH groups in the membrane-bound proteins of the upper and middle subfractions of light and heavy synaptosomes was found in the cortex area of the "clever" then "silly" cats. Suggestion concerning characteristic for brains of "clever" cats relatively low total quantity of synapses in the area Ep of the cortex and significantly higher proportion of cholinergic ones is discussed.

Juvenile muscular atrophy of the distal upper extremities associated with x-linked periventricular heterotopia with features of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

PubMed

Hommel, Alyson L; Jewett, Tamison; Mortenson, Megan; Caress, James B

2016-10-01

Juvenile muscular atrophy of the distal upper extremities (JMADUE) is a rare, sporadic disorder that affects adolescent males and is characterized by progressive but self-limited weakness of the distal upper extremities. The etiology is unknown, but cervical hyperflexion has been hypothesized. We report a case of an adolescent male who presented with typical JMADUE but also had joint hypermobility and multiple congenital anomalies, including periventricular heterotopias, suggesting a multisystem syndrome. Subsequent diagnostic testing confirmed a diagnosis of JMADUE, and sequencing of the filamin-A gene showed a novel, pathogenic mutation that confirmed an additional diagnosis of X-linked periventricular heterotopias with features of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (XLPH-EDS). The concurrent diagnosis of these 2 rare conditions suggests a pathogenic connection. It is likely that the joint hypermobility from XLPH-EDS predisposed this patient to developing JMADUE. This supports the cervical hyperflexion theory of pathogenesis. This case also expands the phenotype associated with FLNA mutations. Muscle Nerve 54: 794-797, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An Eye Tracking Examination of Men's Attractiveness by Conceptive Risk Women.

PubMed

Garza, Ray; Heredia, Roberto R; Cieślicka, Anna B

2017-03-01

Previous research has indicated that women prefer men who exhibit an android physical appearance where fat distribution is deposited on the upper body (i.e., shoulders and arms) and abdomen. This ideal physical shape has been associated with perceived dominance, health, and immunocompetence. Although research has investigated attractability of men with these ideal characteristics, research on how women visually perceive these characteristics is limited. The current study investigated visual perception and attraction toward men in Hispanic women of Mexican American descent. Women exposed to a front-posed image, where the waist-to-chest ratio (WCR) and hair distribution were manipulated, rated men's body image associated with upper body strength (low WCR 0.7) as more attractive. Additionally, conceptive risk did not play a strong role in attractiveness and visual attention. Hair distribution did not contribute to increased ratings of attraction but did contribute to visual attraction when measuring total time where men with both facial and body hair were viewed longer. These findings suggest that physical characteristics in men exhibiting upper body strength and dominance are strong predictors of visual attraction.

A Novel Combined Hybrid Approach to Enable Revascularisation of a Trauma-Induced Subclavian Artery Injury.

PubMed

Sabbagh, C N; Chowdhury, M M; Durrani, A; Van Rensburg, L; Koo, B; Coughlin, P A

2016-01-01

This case highlights the complexity of upper limb revascularization after a subclavian artery traumatic injury and strengthens the role of a hybrid/multi-disciplinary approach to such injuries. A 45-year-old male patient presented with an acute right upper limb following a traumatic injury to the right subclavian artery due to a motor vehicle accident (MVA). Associated injuries included an unstable cervical spine injury, a large open right clavicular injury, and a brain injury, which limited the potential revascularisation options available. The arm was revascularised using a hybrid endovascular/open surgical approach, namely embolization of the proximal subclavian artery (just distal to vertebral artery) and a right common femoral artery to distal axillary artery bypass using prosthetic material. Blunt injuries to the subclavian artery are often high impact, complex and associated with multiple injuries to surrounding structures, which limit the role of standard procedures used in the elective setting. This case highlights the role of multidisciplinary team involvement, using a hybrid approach and a novel distal inflow site to restore upper limb perfusion.

Impact of Cabin Ozone Concentrations on Passenger Reported Symptoms in Commercial Aircraft

PubMed Central

Bekö, Gabriel; Allen, Joseph G.; Weschler, Charles J.; Vallarino, Jose; Spengler, John D.

2015-01-01

Due to elevated ozone concentrations at high altitudes, the adverse effect of ozone on air quality, human perception and health may be more pronounced in aircraft cabins. The association between ozone and passenger-reported symptoms has not been investigated under real conditions since smoking was banned on aircraft and ozone converters became more common. Indoor environmental parameters were measured at cruising altitude on 83 US domestic and international flights. Passengers completed a questionnaire about symptoms and satisfaction with the indoor air quality. Average ozone concentrations were relatively low (median: 9.5 ppb). On thirteen flights (16%) ozone levels exceeded 60 ppb, while the highest peak level reached 256 ppb for a single flight. The most commonly reported symptoms were dry mouth or lips (26%), dry eyes (22.1%) and nasal stuffiness (18.9%). 46% of passengers reported at least one symptom related to the eyes or mouth. A third of the passengers reported at least one upper respiratory symptom. Using multivariate logistic (individual symptoms) and linear (aggregated continuous symptom variables) regression, ozone was consistently associated with symptoms related to the eyes and certain upper respiratory endpoints. A concentration-response relationship was observed for nasal stuffiness and eye and upper respiratory symptom indicators. Average ozone levels, as opposed to peak concentrations, exhibited slightly weaker associations. Medium and long duration flights were significantly associated with more symptoms compared to short flights. The relationship between ultrafine particles and ozone on flights without meal service was indicative of ozone-initiated chemistry. PMID:26011001

Antepartum urinary tract infection and postpartum depression in Taiwan - a nationwide population-based study.

PubMed

Liu, Jui-Ming; Chiu, Feng-Hsiang; Liu, Yueh-Ping; Chen, Shu-Pin; Chan, Hsun-Hao; Yang, Jing-Jung; Chang, Fung-Wei; Hsu, Ren-Jun

2018-03-27

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections in pregnant women due to anatomic and physiologic changes in the female urinary tract during pregnancy, and antepartum UTIs can cause adverse pregnancy outcomes that may induce mental stress. There have only been a few studies, however, investigating antepartum UTIs and mental stress. As such, the present study was conducted in order to investigate the association between antepartum UTIs and postpartum depression (PPD). We used data from the 2000-2013 National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan. Data regarding a total of 55,087 singleton pregnancies was utilized, including data regarding 406 women who were newly diagnosed with PPD in the first 6 months postpartum. The associations between PPD and antepartum UTIs or other risk factors were examined by multiple logistic regression analysis. The logistic regression analysis results indicated that PPD was associated with antepartum UTIs (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI] (1.07-1.65). Furthermore, the risk of PPD was higher in women with an upper antepartum UTI (aOR 2.97 (1.31, 6.77) than in those with a lower antepartum UTI (aOR 1.21 (1.02, 1.58)). Antepartum UTIs, particularly upper antepartum UTIs, are significantly associated with PPD. This information may encourage physicians to pay greater attention to the mental health of women who have suffered upper UTIs during their pregnancies.

6A.03: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTER-ARM SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE AND CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS.

PubMed

Ma, W; Zhang, B; Yang, Y; Qi, L; Meng, L; Zhang, Y; Huo, Y

2015-06-01

To analyze the relationship between the inter arm blood pressure difference (IASBPD) and other cardiovascular risk factors. To identify what factors are associated with this difference in a general population. The study subjects were 1426 individuals. The BP was measured simultaneously in both arms by VP1000 vascular profiler (Omron Colin, Japan). The inter-arm BP difference was expressed as the absolute difference (|R - L|). The various risk factors, ba-PWV, carotid IMT and plaque were compared between IASBPD more than 10mmHg group and IASBPD less than 10mmHg group. The relationship between IASBPD more than 10mmHg and various cardiovascular risk factors were analyzed by multivariate logistic analysis. Left upper limb systolic blood pressure was higher than the right upper limb, while right upper limb diastolic pressure was higher than the left upper limb. The prevalence of hypertension was higher in IASBPD increasing group than normal group (40.5% vs 22.6%, p < 0.05). The weight, BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were also higher in IASBPD increasing group(p < 0.05). The mean IMT and max IMT in any segment carotid artery except for mean IMT of internal carotid artery were thicker in IASBPD increasing group than normal group(p < 0.05). Ba-PWV was higher, while ABI was lower in IASBPD increasing group(1.04 ± 0.16 vs 1.09 ± 0.16, p < 0.05). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, SBP, TC, TG, LDL-C,HDL-C,ABI, PWV, mean IMT and plaque, IASBPD more than 10mmHg was positive associated with BMI(OR 1.081 95%CI: 1.030,1.134,p = 0.002), SBP (OR 1.032 95%CI: 1.023,1.041,p < 0.001), and negative associated with ABI(OR 0.051 95%CI: 0.009,0.273,p = 0.001). The increasing IASBPD was associated with systolic blood pressure, BMI and ABI independently, which may partly explain the mechanism that increasing IASBPD is associated with cardiovascular disease.

Ionospheric electron heating associated with pulsating auroras: joint optical and PFISR observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, J.; Donovan, E.; Spanswick, E.; Reimer, A.; Hampton, D. L.; Varney, R. H.

2017-12-01

In a recent survey based upon Swarm satellite data, Liang et al. [2017] repeatedly identified a strong electron temperature (Te) enhancement associated with the pulsating aurora at Swarm altitudes ( 460 km). The observation of Te enhancement is not contingent upon whether the pulsating patch is "on" or "off" at the satellite traversal epoch. In this study, we use joint optical and Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) observations to further investigate the 4D (space-time) variations of the Te enhancement in association with the pulsating aurora. In a long-lasting pulsating auroral event on 19 March 2015, we identify strong Te enhancements ( 600-1200 K) in the upper F-region ionosphere ( 300-600 km altitude) in conjunction to the passage of pulsating auroras over PFISR beams. The spatial-temporal variations of PFISR Te enhancement are found to generally conform to the variations of pulsating auroras. However, collocated meridian spectrograph observations suggest that the pulsating auroras of interest are composed of energetic electron precipitation with characteristic energy ≥10 keV, which is not supposed to be efficient in heating electrons in the upper F-region. On the other hand, only moderate (<27%) Ne enhancements are found in the upper F-region during the pulsating aurora and Te enhancement interval. There are also moderate Te enhancements ( 100 K) in the E-region accompanying the pulsating auroras, but no clue of Te enhancement is found in the lower F-region. Based upon the above observations and simulations using the model developed in Liang et al. [2017], we propose that thermal conduction from the topside ionosphere, led by magnetospheric heat fluxes, constitutes the most likely underlying mechanism for the upper F-region electron heating associated with pulsating auroras. Such magnetospheric heat fluxes may be pertinent to one long-hypothesized feature of pulsating auroras, namely the existence of an enhanced low-energy plasma population in magnetospheric magnetic flux tubes threading the pulsating auroral patch. Liang, J. B. Yang, E. Donovan, J. Burchill, and D. Knudsen (2017), Ionospheric electron heating associated with pulsating auroras: A Swarm survey and model simulation, JGRA53073, in press