Study of the Local Interstellar Medium using Pulsar Scintillation

We present here the results from an extensive scintillation study of twenty pulsars in the dispersion measure (DM) range 3 - 35 pc cm^-3 carried out using the Ooty Radio Telescope, to investigate the distribution of ionized material in the local interstellar medium (LISM). Our analysis reveals several anomalies in the scattering strength, which suggest that the distribution of scattering material in the Solar neighborhood is not uniform. Our model suggests the presence of a low density bubble surrounded by a shell of much higher density fluctuations. We are able to put some constraints on geometrical and scattering properties of such a structure, and find it to be morphologically similar to the Local Bubble known from other studies.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for rapid detection of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) of DNA is a novel technique that rapidly amplifies target DNA under isothermal conditions. In the present study, a LAMP test was designed from the serum resistance-associated (SRA) gene of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, the cause of the acute form of African sleeping sickness, and used to detect parasite DNA from processed and heat-treated infected blood samples. The SRA gene is specific to T. b. rhodesiense and has been shown to confer resistance to lysis by normal human serum. The assay was performed at 62°C for 1 h, using six primers that recognised eight targets. The template was varying concentrations of trypanosome DNA and supernatant from heat-treated infected blood samples. The resulting amplicons were detected using SYTO-9 fluorescence dye in a real-time thermocycler, visual observation after the addition of SYBR Green I, and gel electrophoresis. DNA amplification was detected within 35 min. The SRA LAMP test had an unequivocal detection limit of one pg of purified DNA (equivalent to 10 trypanosomes/ml) and 0.1 pg (1 trypanosome/ml) using heat-treated buffy coat, while the detection limit for conventional SRA PCR was ∼1,000 trypanosomes/ml. The expected LAMP amplicon was confirmed through restriction enzyme RsaI digestion, identical melt curves, and sequence analysis. The reproducibility of the SRA LAMP assay using water bath and heat-processed template, and the ease in results readout show great potential for the diagnosis of T. b. rhodesiense in endemic regions

Geología de las Mineralizaciones de Sulfuros Masivos en los cloritoesquistos de Moeche (Complejo de Cabo Ortegal, La Coruña.

En la Unidad de Moeche existen concentraciones sulfuradas cupríferas, poco documentadas y poco accesibles actualmente, que han sido explotadas por Cu hasta los años 1960. Se trata de menas metamórficas (metamorfizadas, pero no metamorfogénicas, según las evidencias observadas), diseminadas (en cloritoesquistos cuarzo-piríticos) o estratiformes (en niveles decimétricos a métricos). Las mineralizaciones están fuertemente laminadas y deformadas por la orogenia hercínica; su génesis es pre-tectónica, aunque las frecuentes movilizaciones parciales por transferencia en disolución, ligada a fenómenos de presión-disolución prácticamente ubicuos, enmascaran en parte los rasgos primarios. En cualquier caso, los cuerpos mineralizados muestran habitualmente una estructura concordante con la del encajante, si bien el conjunto está invertido en Mina Piquitos II, y fallado y muy deformada en Mina Barqueira. El encajante corresponde, esencialmente, a una serie meta-volcánica submarina (metabasitas representadas por cloritoesquistos, como tipo más frecuente), interpretada según las ideas actuales como el techo de una serie ofiolítica, con una fuerte impronta de metamorfismo dinámico y una mineralogía epizonal definida por proporciones variables de clorita, albita, actinolita (hornblenda), epidota/clinozoisita, esfena, anatasa, cuarzo, pirita y, en el entorno de Mina Maruxa, estilpnomelana y magnetita. La mineralogía de las menas diseminadas y de los niveles masivos es análoga y, en general, simple: pirita y calcopirita, con cantidades subordinadas a trazas de esfalerita, pirrotita, galena, magnetita, hematites, linneita, marcasita, oro nativo, etc. La Petrografía de IF (Inclusiones Fluidas) muestra que, debido a la fuerte impronta de metamorfismo dinámico, no se han preservado IF primarias (pre-metamórficas) medibles, sino sólo secundarias, sin-metamórficas, generalmente minúsculas y alojadas en microfisuras de tensión sobre microclastos y lentículas de cuarzo, o bien aisladas en cristales de cuarzo metamórfico. Los fluidos dominantes en estas IF son acuosos y densos (F~0,8), Lw, de salinidad moderada (~8% en peso NaCl equiv); no se ha constatado la presencia de CO2 y las temperaturas de homogeneización total oscilan entre 200 y 225ºC. Estos fluídos caracterizan el metamorfismo dinámico, en condiciones epizonales (Pf y T~2/2,5 kb y 325/350ºC, estimación preliminar). La información geoquímica obtenida, tanto por contenidos metálicos como por los valores isotópicos δ34S (-0,6 a +4,5‰, media +2,5‰), establece una clara afinidad con las concentraciones exhalativas o volcano-sedimentarias de sulfuros masivos (VMS), del tipo Cu-Zn de Lydon, análogas a las de Chipre (relacionadas con series ofiolíticas), lo que concuerda con la geología y mineralogía observadas, a pesar de la ubicua impronta metamórfica

Spinal cord injury in the emergency context: Review of program outcomes of a spinal cord injury rehabilitation program in Sri Lanka

Background: The final months of the conflict in Sri Lanka in 2009 resulted in massive displacement of the civilian population and a high volume of orthopedic trauma including spinal cord injury. In response to this need, Médecins Sans Frontières implemented a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. Methods. Patients were admitted to the program if they had a spinal cord injury

Mass corrections in J/ψ→BBˉJ/\psi \to B\bar B decay and the role of distribution amplitudes

We consider mass correction effects on the polar angular distribution of a baryon--antibaryon pair created in the chain decay process $e^-e^+ \to J/\psi \to B\bar B$, generalizing a previous analysis of Carimalo. We show the relevance of the features of the baryon distribution amplitudes and estimate the electromagnetic corrections to the QCD results.Comment: 26 pages + 3 figures, REVTEX 3.0, figures appended as uuencoded, tar-compressed postscript fil

Neurologic phenotype of Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia and neurodevelopmental expression of SMARCAL1

Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia (OMIM 242900) is an uncommon autosomal-recessive multisystem disease caused by mutations in SMARCAL1 (swi/snf-related, matrix-associated, actin-dependent regulator of chromatin, subfamily a-like 1), a gene encoding a putative chromatin remodeling protein. Neurologic manifestations identified to date relate to enhanced atherosclerosis and cerebrovascular disease. Based on a clinical survey, we determined that half of Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia patients have a small head circumference, and 15% have social, language, motor, or cognitive abnormalities. Postmortem examination of 2 Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia patients showed low brain weights and subtle brain histologic abnormalities suggestive of perturbed neuron-glial migration such as heterotopia, irregular cortical thickness, incomplete gyral formation, and poor definition of cortical layers. We found that SMARCAL1 is highly expressed in the developing and adult mouse and human brain, including neural precursors and neuronal lineage cells. These observations suggest that SMARCAL1 deficiency may influence brain development and function in addition to its previously recognized effect on cerebral circulation

Orthopaedic registries - the UK view (National Joint Registry) : impact on practice

• The National Joint Registry (NJR) was established in 2002 as the result of an unexpectedly high failure rate of a cemented total hip replacement. • Initial compliance with the Registry was low until data entry was mandated. Current case ascertainment is approximately 95% for primary procedures and 90% for revision procedures. • The NJR links to other data sources to enrich the reporting processes. The NJR provides several web-based and open-access reports to the public and detailed confidential performance reports to individual surgeons, hospitals and industry bodies. • A transparency and accountability process ensures that device and surgical performance are actively monitored on a six-monthly basis, and adverse variation is dealt with in an appropriate way that underpins patient safety. • The NJR also manages a comprehensive research-ready database and data protection compliant access system that enables external researchers to use the dataset and perform independent analyses for patient benefit. • Moving forwards, the NJR intends to look at factors that lead to better outcomes so that good practice can be embedded into routine care

Flow characteristics of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids in a vessel stirred by a 60° pitched blade impeller

Mean and rms velocity characteristics of two Newtonian flows at Reynolds numbers of 12,800 (glycerin solution) and 48,000 (water) and of a non-Newtonian flow (0.2% CMC solution, at a power number similar to the Newtonian glycerin flow) in a mixing vessel stirred by a 60° pitched blade impeller have been measured by laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV). The velocity measurements, resolved over 360° and 1.08° of impeller rotation, showed that the mean flow of the two power number matched glycerin and CMC flows were similar to within 3% of the impeller tip velocity and the turbulence intensities generally lower in the CMC flow by up to 5% of the tip velocity. The calculated mean flow quantities showed similar discharge coefficient and pumping efficiency in all three flows and similar strain rate between the two power number matched glycerin and CMC flows; the strain rate of the higher Reynolds number Newtonian flow was found to be slightly higher. The energy balance around the impeller indicated that the CMC flow dissipated up to 9% more of the total input power and converted 7% less into the turbulence compared to the glycerin flow with the same power input which could lead to less effective mixing processes where the micro-mixing is important

Lichenometric dating (lichenometry) and the biology of the lichen genus rhizocarpon:challenges and future directions

Lichenometric dating (lichenometry) involves the use of lichen measurements to estimate the age of exposure of various substrata. Because of low radial growth rates and considerable longevity, species of the crustose lichen genus Rhizocarpon have been the most useful in lichenometry. The primary assumption of lichenometry is that colonization, growth and mortality of Rhizocarpon are similar on surfaces of known and unknown age so that the largest thalli present on the respective faces are of comparable age. This review describes the current state of knowledge regarding the biology of Rhizocarpon and considers two main questions: (1) to what extent does existing knowledge support this assumption; and (2) what further biological observations would be useful both to test its validity and to improve the accuracy of lichenometric dates? A review of the Rhizocarpon literature identified gaps in knowledge regarding early development, the growth rate/size curve, mortality, regeneration, competitive effects, colonization, and succession on rock surfaces. The data suggest that these processes may not be comparable on different rock surfaces, especially in regions where growth rates and thallus turnover are high. In addition, several variables could differ between rock surfaces and influence maximum thallus size, including rate and timing of colonization, radial growth rates, environmental differences, thallus fusion, allelopathy, thallus mortality, colonization and competition. Comparative measurements of these variables on surfaces of known and unknown age may help to determine whether the basic assumptions of lichenometry are valid. Ultimately, it may be possible to take these differences into account when interpreting estimated dates

Effects of C, Cu and Be substitutions in superconducting MgB2

Density functional calculations are used to investigate the effects of partial substitutional alloying of the B site in MgB2 with C and Be alone and combined with alloying of the Mg site with Cu. The effect of such substitutions on the electronic structure, electron phonon coupling and superconductivity are discussed. We find that Be substitution for B is unfavorable for superconductivity as it leads to a softer lattice and weaker electron-phonon couplings. Replacement of Mg by Cu leads to an increase in the stiffness and doping level at the same time, while the carrier concentration can be controlled by partial replacement of B by C. We estimate that with full replacement of Mg by Cu and fractional substitution of B by C, Tc values of 50K may be attainable.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure