1,371 research outputs found
Chronic alcohol consumption and withdrawal do not induce cell death in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, but lead to irreversible depression of peptide immunoreactivity and mRNA levels
Mid-Infrared diagnostics of metal-rich HII regions from VLT and Spitzer Spectroscopy of Young Massive Stars in W31
We present near-IR VLT/ISAAC and mid-IR Spitzer/IRS spectroscopy of the young
massive cluster in the W31 star-forming region. H-band spectroscopy provides
refined classifications for four cluster members O stars with respect to Blum
et al. In addition, photospheric features are detected in the massive Young
Stellar Object (mYSO) #26. Spectroscopy permits estimates of stellar
temperatures and masses, from which a cluster age of ~0.6 Myr and distance of
3.3 kpc are obtained, in excellent agreement with Blum et al. IRS spectroscopy
reveals mid-infrared fine structure line fluxes of [Ne II-III] and [S III-IV]
for four O stars and five mYSOs. In common with previous studies, stellar
temperatures of individual stars are severely underestimated from the observed
ratios of fine-structure lines, despite the use of contemporary stellar
atmosphere and photoionization models. We construct empirical temperature
calibrations based upon the W31 cluster stars of known spectral type,
supplemented by two inner Milky Way ultracompact (UC) HII regions whose
ionizing star properties are established. Calibrations involving [NeIII]
15.5um/[NeII] 12.8um, [SIV] 10.5um/[NeII] 12.8um or [ArIII] 9.0um/[NeII] 12.8um
have application in deducing the spectral types of early- to mid- O stars for
other inner Milky Way compact and UCHII regions. Finally, evolutionary phases
and timescales for the massive stellar content in W31 are discussed, due to the
presence of numerous young massive stars at different formation phases in a
`coeval' cluster.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted for MNRA
Predictors of walking capacity in peripheral arterial disease patients
OBJECTIVE: To estimate walking capacity in intermittent claudication patients through a prediction model based on clinical characteristics and the walking impairment questionnaire.
METHODS: The sample included 133 intermittent claudication patients of both genders aged between 30 and 80 years. Data regarding clinical characteristics, the walking impairment questionnaire and treadmill walking test performance were obtained. Multiple regression modeling was conducted to predict claudication onset distance and total walking distance using clinical characteristics (age, height, mass, body mass index, ankle brachial index lower, gender, history of smoking and co-morbid conditions) and walking impairment questionnaire responses. Comparisons of claudication onset distance and total walking distance measured during treadmill tests and estimated by a regression equation were performed using paired t-tests.
RESULTS: Co-morbid conditions (diabetes and coronary artery disease) and questions related to difficulty in walking short distances (walking indoors - such as around your house and walking 5 blocks) and at low speed (walking 1 block at average speed - usual pace) resulted in the development of new prediction models high significant for claudication onset distance and total walking distance (p0.05) were observed.
CONCLUSION: The current study demonstrated that walking capacity can be adequately estimated based on co-morbid conditions and responses to the walking impairment questionnaire
The perception of injury risk and prevention among football players: A systematic review
Football is associated with a certain risk of injury, leading to short- and long-term health consequences. However, the perception of football players about injury risk and prevention strategies is poorly documented. The present article reviewed the literature about perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and knowledge toward injury risk and prevention strategies in football players. An electronic search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and APA PsychINFO until July 2022. Studies were eligible if they included the perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about injury risk and prevention in football players from any competitive level. The risk of bias was assessed in included studies using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist. A total of 14 studies were included. Most football players agreed that their risk of injury is high and prevention strategies are important, however they do not intend to use some of these strategies. The most frequent perceived injury risk factors were low muscle strength, lack of physical fitness, fatigue, excessive training and type and condition of surfaces. The most frequent perceived injury prevention factors were warm-up, workload monitoring and strength and conditioning training. It is essential to acknowledge perceived injury risk factors, as well as a better understanding of how coaching and medical departments' perceptions match with players' perceptions, and a modification in the perceptions of the several stakeholders at different levels of action. 2022 Cardoso-Marinho, Barbosa, Bolling, Marques, Figueiredo and Brito
Phenotypic and genotypic monitoring of Schistosoma mansoni in Tanzanian schoolchildren five years into a preventative chemotherapy national control programme
We conducted combined in vitro PZQ efficacy testing with population genetic analyses of S. mansoni collected from children from two schools in 2010, five years after the introduction of a National Control Programme. Children at one school had received four annual PZQ treatments and the other school had received two mass treatments in total. We compared genetic differentiation, indices of genetic diversity, and estimated adult worm burden from parasites collected in 2010 with samples collected in 2005 (before the control programme began) and in 2006 (six months after the first PZQ treatment). Using 2010 larval samples, we also compared the genetic similarity of those with high and low in vitro sensitivity to PZQ
Localization of gravity on a de Sitter thick braneworld without scalar fields
In this work we present a simple thick braneworld model that is generated by
an intriguing interplay between a 5D cosmological constant with a de Sitter
metric induced in the 3-brane without the inclusion of scalar fields. We show
that 4D gravity is localized on this brane, provide analytic expressions for
the massive Kaluza-Klein (KK) fluctuation modes and also show that the spectrum
of metric excitations displays a mass gap. We finally present the corrections
to Newton's law due to these massive modes. This model has no naked
singularities along the fifth dimension despite the existence of a mass gap in
the graviton spectrum as it happens in thick branes with 4D Poincare symmetry,
providing a simple model with very good features: the curvature is completely
smooth along the fifth dimension, it localizes 4D gravity and the spectrum of
gravity fluctuations presents a mass gap, a fact that rules out the existence
of phenomenologically dangerous ultralight KK excitations in the model. We
finally present our solution as a limit of scalar thick branes.Comment: 11 pages in latex, no figures, title and abstract changed, a new
section and some references adde
Addressing drinking water salinity due to sea water intrusion in Praia de Leste, Parana, by a brackish water desalination pilot plant
Seawater intrusion into the Pombas River, source of freshwater to Praia de Leste on the coast of
Parana in Brazil presents a problem to the water utility as most water treatment plants in Brazil
are conventional. To find a solution to this problem, a pilot plant (1 m3
/h) consisting of ultrafiltration (UF) followed by reverse osmosis (RO) was developed and evaluated. For testing, brackish
water was produced with a concentration of 1,500 ± 100 mg/L of total dissolved solids (TDS), mixing
seawater and fresh water. To evaluate the water quality, TDS, electrical conductivity, pH, temperature,
apparent color, turbidity, alkalinity, total hardness, calcium, chloride and sulfate were monitored.
For operational performance, flowrates, osmotic pressure, filtration rate, recovery rate and mass balance were analyzed. On average, the UF system removed 96.4% of turbidity and 98.6% of apparent
color; whereas the RO system removed 99.4% of TDS. The overall average recovery (UF and RO)
was 45.81% with average osmotic pressure of 8.21 bar, filtration rate of 30.7 L/h/m2
in the UF system
and 21.7 L/h/m2
in the RO system. From a water quality point of view, the system was effective in
processing brackish into fresh water of high quality
Cryptic Splice-altering Variants in MYBPC3 Are a Prevalent Cause of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Casimir effect of electromagnetic field in Randall-Sundrum spacetime
We study the finite temperature Casimir effect on a pair of parallel
perfectly conducting plates in Randall-Sundrum model without using scalar field
analogy. Two different ways of interpreting perfectly conducting conditions are
discussed. The conventional way that uses perfectly conducting condition
induced from 5D leads to three discrete mode corrections. This is very
different from the result obtained from imposing 4D perfectly conducting
conditions on the 4D massless and massive vector fields obtained by decomposing
the 5D electromagnetic field. The latter only contains two discrete mode
corrections, but it has a continuum mode correction that depends on the
thicknesses of the plates. It is shown that under both boundary conditions, the
corrections to the Casimir force make the Casimir force more attractive. The
correction under 4D perfectly conducting condition is always smaller than the
correction under the 5D induced perfectly conducting condition. These
statements are true at any temperature.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure
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