4,830 research outputs found
A patient preference study that evaluated fluticasone furoate and mometasone furoate nasal sprays for allergic rhinitis
Background: Corticosteroid nasal sprays are the mainstay of treatment for allergic rhinitis. These sprays have sensory attributes such as scent and/or odor, taste and aftertaste, and run down the throat and/or the nose, which, when unpleasant, can affect patient preference for, and compliance with, treatment.
Objective: This study examined patient preference for fluticasone furoate nasal spray (FFNS) or mometasone furoate nasal spray (MFNS) based on their sensory attributes after administration in patients with allergic rhinitis.
Methods: This was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, cross-over study. Patient preferences were determined by using three questionnaires (Overall Preference, Immediate Attributes, and Delayed Attributes).
Results: Overall, 56% of patients stated a preference for FFNS versus 32% for MFNS (p _ 0.001); the remaining 12% stated no preference. More patients stated a preference for FFNS versus MFNS for the attributes of âless drip down the throatâ (p _ 0.001), âless run out of the noseâ (p _ 0.05), âmore soothingâ (p _ 0.05), and âless irritatingâ (p _ 0.001). More patients responded in favor of FFNS versus MFNS for the immediate attributes, ârun down the throatâ (p _ 0.001), and ârun out of the noseâ (p _ 0.001), and, in the delayed attributes, ârun down the throatâ (p _ 0.001), ârun out of the noseâ (p _ 0.01), âpresence of aftertasteâ (p _ 0.01), and âno nasal irritationâ (p _ 0.001).
Conclusion: Patients with allergic rhinitis preferred FFNS versus MFNS overall and based on a number of individual attributes, including âless drip down the throat,â âless run out of the nose,â and âless irritating.â Greater preference may improve patient adherence and thereby improve symptom management of the patientâs allergic rhinitis
Warm dust in the terrestrial planet zone of a sun-like Pleiad: collisions between planetary embryos?
Only a few solar-type main sequence stars are known to be orbited by warm
dust particles; the most extreme is the G0 field star BD+20 307 that emits ~4%
of its energy at mid-infrared wavelengths. We report the identification of a
similarly dusty star HD 23514, an F6-type member of the Pleiades cluster. A
strong mid-IR silicate emission feature indicates the presence of small warm
dust particles, but with the primary flux density peak at the non-standard
wavelength of ~9 micron. The existence of so much dust within an AU or so of
these stars is not easily accounted for given the very brief lifetime in orbit
of small particles. The apparent absence of very hot (>~1000 K) dust at both
stars suggests the possible presence of a planet closer to the stars than the
dust. The observed frequency of the BD+20 307/HD 23514 phenomenon indicates
that the mass equivalent of Earth's Moon must be converted, via collisions of
massive bodies, to tiny dust particles that find their way to the terrestrial
planet zone during the first few hundred million years of the life of many
(most?) sun-like stars. Identification of these two dusty systems among
youthful nearby solar-type stars suggests that terrestrial planet formation is
common.Comment: ApJ in press, 19 pages including 3 figures and 2 tables, minor
changes to the tables and figure
The Ellipticity and Orientation of Clusters of Galaxies from N-Body Experiments
In this study we use simulations of 128 particles to study the
ellipticity and orientation of clusters of galaxies in N-body simulations of
differing power-law initial spectra (P(k) \propto k^n ,n = +1, 0, -1, -2\Omega_0 = 0.2nD < 15 h^{-1}n-$dependent way.Comment: 22 pages, requires aaspp4.sty, flushrt.sty, and epsf.sty Revised
manuscript, accepted for publication in Ap
Einstein Cluster Alignments Revisited
We have examined whether the major axes of rich galaxy clusters tend to point
toward their nearest neighboring cluster. We have used the data of Ulmer,
McMillan, and Kowalski, who used position angles based on X-ray morphology. We
also studied a subset of this sample with updated positions and distances from
the MX Northern Abell Cluster Survey (for rich clusters () with well
known redshifts). A Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test showed no significant signal
for nonrandom angles on any scale Mpc. However, refining the
null hypothesis with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test, we found a high confidence
signal for alignment. Confidence levels increase to a high of 99.997% as only
near neighbors which are very close are considered. We conclude there is a
strong alignment signal in the data, consistent with gravitational instability
acting on Gaussian perturbations.Comment: Minor revisions. To be published in Ap
Alignments of the Dominant Galaxies in Poor Clusters
We have examined the orientations of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in
poor MKW and AWM clusters and find that, like their counterparts in richer
Abell clusters, poor cluster BCGs exhibit a strong propensity to be aligned
with the principal axes of their host clusters as well as the surrounding
distribution of nearby (< 20/h Mpc) Abell clusters. The processes responsible
for dominant galaxy alignments are therefore independent of cluster richness.
We argue that these alignments most likely arise from anisotropic infall of
material into clusters along large-scale filaments.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Microalgae for municipal wastewater nutrient remediation: mechanisms, reactors and outlook for tertiary treatment
This review explores the use of microalgae for nutrient removal in municipal wastewater treatment, considering recent improvements in the understanding of removal mechanisms and developments of both suspended and non-suspended systems. Nutrient removal is associated to both direct and indirect uptake, with the former associated to the biomass concentration and growth environment (reactor). Importantly, direct uptake is influenced by the Nitrogen:Phosphorus content in both the cells and the surrounding wastewater, with opposite trends observed for N and P. Comparison of suspended and non-suspended systems revealed that whilst all were capable of achieving high levels of nutrient removal, only non-suspended immobilized systems could do so with reduced hydraulic retention times of less than 1 day. As microalgae are photosynthetic organisms, the metabolic processes associated with nutrient assimilation are driven by light. Optimization of light delivery remains a key area of development with examples of improved mixing in suspended systems and the use of pulsating lights to enhance light utilization and reduce costs. Recent data provide increased confidence in the use of microalgae for nutrient removal in municipal wastewater treatment, enabling effluent discharges below 1â
mgâ
Lâ1 to be met whilst generating added value in terms of bioproducts for energy production or nutrient recovery. Ultimately, the review suggests that future research should focus on non-suspended systems and the determination of the added value potential. In so doing, it is predicted that microalgae systems will be significant in the delivery of the circular economy
The Intrinsic Alignment of Dark Halo Substructures
We investigate the intrinsic alignments of dark halo substructures with their
host halo major-axis orientations both analytically and numerically.
Analytically, we derive the probability density distribution of the angles
between the minor axes of the substructures and the major axes of their host
halos from the physical principles, under the assumption that the substructure
alignment on galaxy scale is a consequence of the tidal fields of the host halo
gravitational potential. Numerically, we use a sample of four cluster-scale
halos and their galaxy-scale substructures from recent high-resolution N-body
simulations to measure the probability density distribution. We compare the
numerical distribution with the analytic prediction, and find that the two
results agree with each other very well. We conclude that our analytic model
provides a quantitative physical explanation for the intrinsic alignment of
dark halo substructures. We also discuss the possibility of discriminating our
model from the anisotropic infall scenario by testing it against very large
N-body simulations in the future.Comment: accepted version, ApJL in press, minor revision, 12 pages, 2 figure
Lung penetration, bronchopulmonary pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic profile and safety of 3 g of ceftolozane/tazobactam administered to ventilated, critically ill patients with pneumonia
Objectives: Ceftolozane/tazobactam is approved for hospital-acquired/ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia at double the dose (i.e. 2 g/1 g) recommended for other indications. We evaluated the bronchopulmonary pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic profile of this 3 g ceftolozane/tazobactam regimen in ventilated pneumonia patients.
Methods: This was an open-label, multicentre, Phase 1 trial (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02387372). Mechanically ventilated patients with proven/suspected pneumonia received four to six doses of 3 g of ceftolozane/tazobactam (adjusted for renal function) q8h. Serial plasma samples were collected after the first and last doses. One bronchoalveolar lavage sample per patient was collected at 1, 2, 4, 6 or 8 h after the last dose and epithelial lining fluid (ELF) drug concentrations were determined. Pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated by noncompartmental analysis and pharmacodynamic analyses were conducted to graphically evaluate achievement of target exposures (plasma and ELF ceftolozane concentrations >4 mg/L and tazobactam concentrations >1 mg/L; target in plasma: similar to 30% and similar to 20% of the dosing interval, respectively).
Results: Twenty-six patients received four to six doses of study drug; 22 were included in the ELF analyses. Ceftolozane and tazobactam T-max (6 and 2 h, respectively) were delayed in ELF compared with plasma (1h). Lung penetration, expressed as the ratio of mean drug exposure (AUC) in ELF to plasma, was 50% (ceftolozane) and 62% (tazobactam). Mean ceftolozane and tazobactam ELF
concentrations remained >4 mg/L and >1mg/L, respectively, for 100% of the dosing interval. Therewere no deaths or adverse event-related study discontinuations. Conclusions: In ventilated pneumonia patients, 3 g of ceftolozane/tazobactam q8h yielded ELF exposures considered adequate to cover ceftolozane/tazobactam-susceptible respiratory pathogens
Alignments of Voids in the Cosmic Web
We investigate the shapes and mutual alignment of voids in the large scale
matter distribution of a LCDM cosmology simulation. The voids are identified
using the novel WVF void finder technique. The identified voids are quite
nonspherical and slightly prolate, with axis ratios in the order of c:b:a
approx. 0.5:0.7:1. Their orientations are strongly correlated with significant
alignments spanning scales >30 Mpc/h.
We also find an intimate link between the cosmic tidal field and the void
orientations. Over a very wide range of scales we find a coherent and strong
alignment of the voids with the tidal field computed from the smoothed density
distribution. This orientation-tide alignment remains significant on scales
exceeding twice the typical void size, which shows that the long range external
field is responsible for the alignment of the voids. This confirms the view
that the large scale tidal force field is the main agent for the large scale
spatial organization of the Cosmic Web.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, submitted to MNRAS, for high resolution version,
see http://www.astro.rug.nl/~weygaert/tim1publication/voidshape.pd
The Origin of the Brightest Cluster Galaxies
Most clusters and groups of galaxies contain a giant elliptical galaxy in
their centres which far outshines and outweighs normal ellipticals. The origin
of these brightest cluster galaxies is intimately related to the collapse and
formation of the cluster. Using an N-body simulation of a cluster of galaxies
in a hierarchical cosmological model, we show that galaxy merging naturally
produces a massive, central galaxy with surface brightness and velocity
dispersion profiles similar to observed BCG's. To enhance the resolution of the
simulation, 100 dark halos at are replaced with self-consistent
disk+bulge+halo galaxy models following a Tully-Fisher relation using 100000
particles for the 20 largest galaxies and 10000 particles for the remaining
ones. This technique allows us to analyze the stellar and dark matter
components independently. The central galaxy forms through the merger of
several massive galaxies along a filament early in the cluster's history.
Galactic cannibalism of smaller galaxies through dynamical friction over a
Hubble time only accounts for a small fraction of the accreted mass. The galaxy
is a flattened, triaxial object whose long axis aligns with the primordial
filament and the long axis of the cluster galaxy distribution agreeing with
observed trends for galaxy-cluster alignment.Comment: Revised and accepted in ApJ, 25 pages, 10 figures, online version
available at http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~dubinski/bcg
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