Peak Bone Mass and Quantitative Ultrasound Bone Properties in Young Adulthood : A Study in the PEAK-25 Cohort of Women

Peak bone mass is normally reached in the third decade of life. Previously, in the population-based PEAK-25 cohort (n = 1061, age 25.5 ± 0.2), we demonstrated that bone mineral density in the population-based PEAK-25 cohort is comparatively high; therefore, this study aimed to determine if the calcaneus microarchitecture mirrored this. In the process, we describe normative quantitative ultrasound (QUS) values for 25-yr-old women and the relationship between QUS values and extremes of body weight. QUS variables speed of sound (SOS), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), and stiffness index were measured. Young adult values were based on the manufacturer-supplied QUS reference values. Analyses were performed in the cohort as a whole, and additionally, to understand the relationship between body weight and QUS values in young women, the variables were categorized into octiles for weight or body mass index (BMI) and the lowest and highest octiles were compared. In the cohort, SOS values, reflecting bone density, were higher (108 ± 18%), whereas BUA values, reflecting bone complexity, were lower (90 ± 14%) compared to the young adult reference population. SOS did not correlate with body weight or BMI. In the cohort, overall correlations between BUA weight, and BMI were small and positive (Pearson's r coefficients 0.261 and 0.197, respectively; p <0.001), although in the low-weight group, r coefficients were higher (r = 0.313 and 0.268; p <0.05). In contrast, in the high-weight group, correlation with BUA values tended to be small, negative, and nonsignificant. Correlation between QUS and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry-measured bone mineral density was low to moderate and significant at all skeletal sites (r = 0.37-0.52). Whereas coefficients tended to be higher in the low-weight group, the reverse was apparent for the low-BMI group. In these 25-yr-old women, a comparatively high dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry-measured bone mass is offset by less complex bone structures assessed by QUS. This may have implications for later osteoporosis assessment and future fracture risk

Hydroxy-PCBs, PBDEs, and HBCDDs in serum from an elderly population of Swedish fishermen's wives and associations with bone density

Lack of human exposure data is frequently reported as a critical gap in risk assessments of environmental pollutants, especially regarding "new" pollutants. The objectives of this study were to assess serum levels of the persistent 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153), hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyl metabolites (OH-PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs) in a group of Swedish middle-aged and elderly women expected to be relatively highly exposed, and to evaluate the impact of potential determinants (e.g., fish intake, age) for the inter-individual variation, as well as to investigate the association between these pollutants and bone density. No associations were found between bone mineral density or biochemical markers of bone metabolism and the analyzed environmental pollutants. Relatively high levels of CB-153 (median 260 ng/g fat) and Sigma(3)-OH- PCBs (median 1.7 ng/mL serum), and low concentrations of Sigma 6PBDEs (median 3.6 ng/g fat) were determined. Total level of HBCDDs in serum was quantified by gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (median 0.5 ng/g fat). HBCDD diastereomeric and enantiomeric patterns were determined by liquid chromatography with mass spectrometric detection. The dominating stereoisomer was (-)alpha-HBCDD, but 1-3% of gamma-HBCDD was also detected in the serum samples

Hip fracture, mortality risk, and cause of death over two decades

Summary: Men and women with hip fracture have higher short-term mortality. This study investigated mortality risk over two decades post-fracture; excess mortality remained high in women up to 10 years and in men up to 20 years. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and pneumonia were leading causes of death with a long-term doubling of risk. Introduction: Hip fractures are associated with increased mortality, particularly short term. In this study with a two-decade follow-up, we examined mortality and cause of death compared to the background population. Methods: We followed 1013 hip fracture patients and 2026 matched community controls for 22 years. Mortality, excess mortality, and cause of death were analyzed and stratified for age and sex. Hazard ratio (HR) was estimated by Cox regression. A competing risk model was fitted to estimate HR for common causes of death (CVD, cancer, pneumonia) in the short and long term (>1 year). Results: For both sexes and at all ages, mortality was higher in hip fracture patients across the observation period with men losing most life years (p <0.001). Mortality risk was higher for up to 15 years (women (risk ratio (RR) 1.9 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.7–2.1]); men (RR 2.8 [2.2–3.5])) and until end of follow-up ((RR 1.8 [1.6–2.0]); (RR 2.7 [2.1–3.3])). Excess mortality by time intervals, censored for the first year, was evident in women (80 years, for 5 years) and in me

Thermal phenomenology of hadrons from 200 AGeV S+S collisions

We develop a complete and consistent description for the hadron spectra from heavy ion collisions in terms of a few collective variables, in particular temperature, longitudinal and transverse flow. To achieve a meaningful comparison with presently available data, we also include the resonance decays into our picture. To disentangle the influences of transverse flow and resonance decays in the $m_T$-spectra, we analyse in detail the shape of the $m_T$-spectra.Comment: 31 pages, 13 figs in seperate uuencoded file, for LaTeX, epsf.sty and dvips, TPR-93-16 and BNL-(no number yet

Hydrodynamical assessment of 200 AGeV collisions

We are analyzing the hydrodynamics of 200 A GeV S+S collisions using a new approach which tries to quantify the uncertainties arising from the specific implementation of the hydrodynamical model. Based on a previous phenomenological analysis we use the global hydrodynamics model to show that the amount of initial flow, or initial energy density, cannot be determined from the hadronic momentum spectra. We additionally find that almost always a sizeable transverse flow deve- lops, which causes the system to freeze out, thereby limiting the flow velocity in itself. This freeze-out dominance in turn makes a distinction between a plasma and a hadron resonance gas equation of state very difficult, whereas a pure pion gas can easily be ruled out from present data. To complete the picture we also analyze particle multiplicity data, which suggest that chemical equilibrium is not reached with respect to the strange particles. However, the over- population of pions seems to be at most moderate, with a pion chemical potential far away from the Bose divergence.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figs in separate uuencoded file, for LateX, epsf.tex, dvips, TPR-94-5 and BNL-(no number yet

Consistency of data on soft photon production in hadronic interactions

The glob model of Lichard and Van Hove and the modified soft annihilation model (MSAM) of Lichard and Thompson are used as a phenomenological tool for relating results from various experiments on soft photon production in high energy collisions. The total phenomenological expectation is composed of contributions from classical bremsstrahlung, the soft annihilation model and the glob model. The empirical excess above the background from hadronic decays at very small longitudinal momenta of photons is well reproduced, as well as that for transverse momenta pT >~ 10 MeV/c. Some data do not require the glob model and MSAM components in the phenomenological mixture, but do not exclude them. On the basis of consistency of all data with the total theoretical expectation we argue that the results of all experiments are mutually consistent. The models are unable to describe the excess of ultrasoft photons (pT <~ 10 MeV/c), seen by some, but not all, experiments. This may indicate an as yet unknown projectile-mass-dependent production mechanism. Possible relations of soft photon production to other phenomena are discussed. A simple-to-use, but physically equivalent version of the glob model is developed, which enables an easy check of presented results.Comment: 25 pages, RevTeX, epsf.sty, 12 embedded figure

Anthropogenic and climatic impacts on a coastal environment in the Baltic Sea over the last 1000 years

Coastal environments have experienced large ecological changes as a result of human activities over the last 100-200 years. To understand the severity and potential consequences of such changes, paleoenvironmental records provide important contextual information. The Baltic Sea coastal zone is naturally a vulnerable system and subject to significant human-induced impacts. To put the recent environmental degradation in the Baltic coastal zone into a long-term perspective, and to assess the natural and anthropogenic drivers of environmental change, we present sedimentary records covering the last 1000 years obtained from a coastal inlet (Gasfjarden) and a nearby lake (Lake Storsjon) in Sweden. We investigate the links between a pollen-based land cover reconstruction from Lake Storsjon and paleoenvironmental variables from Gasfjarden itself, including diatom assemblages, organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents, stable C and N isotopic ratios, and biogenic silica contents. The Lake Storsjon record shows that regional land use was characterized by small-scale agricultural activity between 900 and 1400 CE, which slightly intensified between 1400 and 1800 CE. Substantial expansion of cropland was observed between 1800 and 1950 CE, before afforestation between 1950 and 2010 CE. From the Gasfjarden record, prior to 1800 CE, relatively minor changes in the diatom and geochemical proxies were found. The onset of cultural eutrophication in Gasfjarden can be traced to the 1800s and intensified land use is identified as the main driver. Anthropogenic activities in the 20th century have caused unprecedented ecosystem changes in the coastal inlet, as reflected in the diatom composition and geochemical proxies. (c) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Direct Photon Production in Heavy Ion Reactions at SPS and RHIC

A review on experimental results for direct photon production in heavy ion reactions is given. A brief survey of early direct photon limits from SPS experiments is presented. The first measurement of direct photons in heavy ion reactions from the WA98 collaboration is discussed and compared to theoretical calculations. An outlook on the perspective of photon measurements at RHIC is given.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, invited talk at ICPA-QGP 2001, Jaipur, India, to be published in PRAMAN

Aspects of four-jet production in polarized proton-proton collisions

We examine the intrinsic spin-dependence of the dominant $gg \rightarrow gggg$ subprocess contribution to four-jet production in polarized proton-proton collisions using helicity amplitude techniques. We find that the partonic level, longitudinal spin-spin asymmetry, $\hat{a}_{LL}$, is intrinsically large in the kinematic regions probed in experiments detecting four isolated jets. Such events may provide another qualitative or semi-quantitative test of the spin-structure of QCD in planned polarized $pp$ collisions at RHIC.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX, 2 uuencoded postscript files attache

IdeS: A Bacterial Proteolytic Enzyme with Therapeutic Potential

Background: IdeS, a proteinase from Streptococcus pyogenes, cleaves immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibodies with a unique degree of specificity. Pathogenic IgG antibodies constitute an important clinical problem contributing to the pathogenesis of a number of autoimmune conditions and acute transplant rejection. To be able to effectively remove such antibodies is therefore an important clinical challenge. Methodology/Principal Findings: IdeS was found to specifically and efficiently cleave IgG in human blood in vitro (20 mg of IdeS caused a complete degradation of IgG in one ml of human whole blood in 15 minutes) and to clear IgG from the blood stream of rabbits in vivo (no IgG was detected six hours following an intravenous injection of 5 mg of IdeS) without any side effects. In a mouse model of immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), polyclonal IgG antibodies against platelet surface antigens were used to induce a lethal disease. These profoundly thrombocytopenic animals were treated and cured by a single injection of IdeS. Conclusions/Significance: Novel information is provided concerning the IgG-cleaving activity of IdeS in vitro and in vivo. The highly specific and rapid elimination of IgG in vivo, the dramatic effect in a mouse model of ITP, and the lack of sid