Experimental Lagrangian structure functions in turbulence

Lagrangian properties obtained from a Particle Tracking Velocimetry experiment in a turbulent flow at intermediate Reynolds number are presented. Accurate sampling of particle trajectories is essential in order to obtain the Lagrangian structure functions and to measure intermittency at small temporal scales. The finiteness of the measurement volume can bias the results significantly. We present a robust way to overcome this obstacle. Despite no fully developed inertial range we observe strong intermittency at the scale of dissipation. The multifractal model is only partially able to reproduce the results.Comment: 12 pages (two column format). This is version two of the paper. Notice that the title has change

Effects of 24-hour and 36-hour sleep deprivation on smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by IOS Press in Journal of Vestibular Research, in 2008. Available online at https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-vestibular-research/ves00326. The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Sleep restrictions and sleep deprivation have become common in modern society, as many people report daily sleep below the recommended 8 hours per night. This study aimed to examine the effects of sleep deprivation on oculomotor performance by recording smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements after 24 and 36 hours of sleep deprivation. Another objective was to determine whether detected changes in oculomotor performance followed fluctuations according to a circadian rhythm and/or subjective Visuo-Analogue sleepiness Scale scores. Oculomotor responses were recorded from 18 subjects using electronystagmography, and comprised measurements of accuracy (i.e., the percentage of time the eye movement velocity was within the target velocity boundaries), velocity and latency. Continuous EEG recordings were used to validate that subjects had remained awake throughout the 36-hour period. Our findings showed that sleep deprivation deteriorated smooth pursuit gain, smooth pursuit accuracy and saccade velocity. Additionally, the ratio between saccade velocity and saccade amplitude was significantly decreased by sleep deprivation. However, as the length of sleep deprivation increased, only smooth pursuit gain deteriorated further, whereas there were signs of improvement in smooth pursuit accuracy measurements. The latter observation suggests that smooth pursuit accuracy might be affected by the circadian rhythm of alertness. Surprisingly, high subjective scores of sleepiness correlated in most cases with better saccade performance, especially after 36 hours of sleep deprivation, suggesting that awareness of sleepiness might make subjects perform better during saccade assessments. To conclude, oculomotor function clearly decreased after sleep deprivation, but the performance deteriorations were complex and not necessarily correlated with subjectively felt sleepiness.The authors’ wishes to acknowledge the financial supported from the Swedish Medical Research Council (grant nr. 17x-05693) and the Medical Faculty, Lund University, Sweden. We also acknowledge Janet Lindblad for her invaluable help in the study and Lars Beijer and Fredrik Alvik, ResMed Sweden AB, for providing the Embletta™ EEG measurement equipment for the study

A multi-stage genome-wide association study of bladder cancer identifies multiple susceptibility loci.

We conducted a multi-stage, genome-wide association study of bladder cancer with a primary scan of 591,637 SNPs in 3,532 affected individuals (cases) and 5,120 controls of European descent from five studies followed by a replication strategy, which included 8,382 cases and 48,275 controls from 16 studies. In a combined analysis, we identified three new regions associated with bladder cancer on chromosomes 22q13.1, 19q12 and 2q37.1: rs1014971, (P = 8 × 10⁻¹²) maps to a non-genic region of chromosome 22q13.1, rs8102137 (P = 2 × 10⁻¹¹) on 19q12 maps to CCNE1 and rs11892031 (P = 1 × 10⁻⁷) maps to the UGT1A cluster on 2q37.1. We confirmed four previously identified genome-wide associations on chromosomes 3q28, 4p16.3, 8q24.21 and 8q24.3, validated previous candidate associations for the GSTM1 deletion (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹) and a tag SNP for NAT2 acetylation status (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹), and found interactions with smoking in both regions. Our findings on common variants associated with bladder cancer risk should provide new insights into the mechanisms of carcinogenesis

A multi-stage genome-wide association study of bladder cancer identifies multiple susceptibility loci.

We conducted a multi-stage, genome-wide association study of bladder cancer with a primary scan of 591,637 SNPs in 3,532 affected individuals (cases) and 5,120 controls of European descent from five studies followed by a replication strategy, which included 8,382 cases and 48,275 controls from 16 studies. In a combined analysis, we identified three new regions associated with bladder cancer on chromosomes 22q13.1, 19q12 and 2q37.1: rs1014971, (P = 8 × 10⁻¹²) maps to a non-genic region of chromosome 22q13.1, rs8102137 (P = 2 × 10⁻¹¹) on 19q12 maps to CCNE1 and rs11892031 (P = 1 × 10⁻⁷) maps to the UGT1A cluster on 2q37.1. We confirmed four previously identified genome-wide associations on chromosomes 3q28, 4p16.3, 8q24.21 and 8q24.3, validated previous candidate associations for the GSTM1 deletion (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹) and a tag SNP for NAT2 acetylation status (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹), and found interactions with smoking in both regions. Our findings on common variants associated with bladder cancer risk should provide new insights into the mechanisms of carcinogenesis

A sequence variant at 4p16.3 confers susceptibility to urinary bladder cancer

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldPreviously, we reported germline DNA variants associated with risk of urinary bladder cancer (UBC) in Dutch and Icelandic subjects. Here we expanded the Icelandic sample set and tested the top 20 markers from the combined analysis in several European case-control sample sets, with a total of 4,739 cases and 45,549 controls. The T allele of rs798766 on 4p16.3 was found to associate with UBC (odds ratio = 1.24, P = 9.9 x 10(-12)). rs798766 is located in an intron of TACC3, 70 kb from FGFR3, which often harbors activating somatic mutations in low-grade, noninvasive UBC. Notably, rs798766[T] shows stronger association with low-grade and low-stage UBC than with more aggressive forms of the disease and is associated with higher risk of recurrence in low-grade stage Ta tumors. The frequency of rs798766[T] is higher in Ta tumors that carry an activating mutation in FGFR3 than in Ta tumors with wild-type FGFR3. Our results show a link between germline variants, somatic mutations of FGFR3 and risk of UBC.info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/21807

Acidification of distal esophagus and sleep-related breathing disturbances

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldSTUDY OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether distal esophageal acidification occurs during sleep in patients suspected of sleep-disordered breathing, and whether such acidification is related to respiratory abnormalities. DESIGN AND PATIENTS: Fourteen middle-aged, snoring men all complaining of daytime sleepiness and suspected of having obstructive sleep apnea. SETTING: Sleep laboratory, Pulmonary Department, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Each patient underwent full nocturnal polysomnography testing, which included continuous monitoring of esophageal pressure (Pes) and pH. We identified all pH events, which were defined as a reduction in esophageal pH of >/= 1.0. During each pH event, the respiratory recordings where examined for the presence of apneas or hypopneas, and Pes was recorded. The data were analyzed to determine the possible relationships between pH events and respiratory events, and between changes in pH and changes in Pes. We found that there were more respiratory events than pH events. The mean (+/- SD) number of apneas and hypopneas per hour of sleep was 33 +/- 22, whereas the mean number of pH events per hour of sleep was 7 +/- 6. Overall, 81% of all pH events were associated with respiratory events. Correlation analysis did not reveal any significant relationship between pH events and the magnitude of Pes or apnea-hypopnea index. CONCLUSIONS: Episodes of esophageal acidification are common in patients with sleep apnea, and are usually associated with respiratory and pressure events. However, changes in pH were independent of the magnitude of the Pes

Pharyngeal Airway Dimensions and Head Posture in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients with and without Morphological Deviations in the Upper Cervical Spine

Objectives: The aim of the study was to analyse differences in pharyngeal airway dimensions and head posture between obstructive sleep apnea patients with and without morphological deviations in the upper cervical spine and to analyse associations between pharyngeal airway dimensions and head posture in the total sample. Material and Methods: The sample comprised 53 obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients of which 32.1% had upper spine morphological deviations. Accordingly two groups were defined: 17 OSA patients with morphological deviations in the upper spine and 36 without upper spine deviations. Pharyngeal airway dimensions in terms of distances, cross-sectional areas and volume and upper spine morphological deviations were evaluated on cone-beam computed tomography. Head posture was evaluated on two-dimensional generated lateral cephalograms. Differences were analysed and adjusted for age and gender by multiple linear regression analysis. Results: OSA patients with upper spine morphological deviations had a significantly more backward and curved neck posture (OPT/HOR, P < 0.01; OPT/CVT, P < 0.05) compared to OSA patients without spine deviations. No significant differences were found in airway dimensions between patients with and without upper spine deviations. In the total group significant associations were found between head posture and pharyngeal airway distances and cross-sectional area at the nasal floor, epiglottis and hyoid bone level (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, P < 0.001). No significant association was found between head posture and airway volume. Conclusions: The results may contribute to differentiate obstructive sleep apnea patients and thereby may prove valuable in diagnosis and treatment planning of obstructive sleep apnea patients

Environmental Conditions and Intraspecific Interference: Unexpected Effects of Turbidity on Pike (Esox lucius) Foraging

Interference among predators decreases per capita foraging rates and has implications for both community dynamics and top-down trophic processes. Interference originates from behavioural interactions among foragers, and these behaviours could be affected by environmental conditions. In experiments on pike foraging alone or among conspecifics in different levels of water turbidity, we expected high turbidity to decrease the perceived risk of intraspecific interactions among pike, and thereby decrease the strength of interference, as turbidity would decrease the visual contact between individuals and act as a refuge from behavioural interactions. The results show that this is not the case, but suggest that interference is induced instead of reduced in high turbidity. Per capita foraging rates do not differ between pike foraging alone or in groups in our clear and moderately turbid treatments, indicating no effect of interference. As high turbidity enhances prey consumption for pike individuals foraging alone, but does not have this effect for pike in groups, high turbidity induces the relative interference effect. We suggest that future evaluations of the stabilizing effects of interference on community dynamics and its reduction of predation impact on top-down trophic cascades should consider potential unexpected effects of environmental conditions

High rate reactive magnetron sputter deposition of titanium oxide

A systematic experimental study of reactive sputtering from substoichiometric targets of TiOx with x ranging from 0 to 1.75 is reported. Experimental results are compared with results from modeling. The developed model describes the observed behavior and explains the origins of the unexpectedly high deposition rate. The behavior is shown to originate from the presence of titanium suboxides at the target surface caused by preferential sputtering of the oxide. The model can be used for optimization of the target composition with respect to the deposition rate and film composition in a stable hysteresis-free reactive sputtering process