Two Buried And Stacked Ice Masses Dated To Early And Late Pliocene; Ong Valley, Antarctica

A debris rich ice core was collected from a buried ice mass in Ong Valley, located in Transantarctic Mountains in Antarctica. Measured cosmogenic nuclide concentrations in quartz obtained from the ice core were used to determine the age of the buried ice mass and infer the processes responsible for the emplacement of the debris currently overlaying the ice. Such ice masses are valuable archives of paleoclimate proxies; however, the preservation of ice beyond 800 kyrs is rare and therefore much effort has been recently focused on finding ice that is older than 1 Ma. In Ong Valley, the large, buried ice mass has been previously dated at \u3e 1.1 Ma. In order to further constrain the age, this research focuses on a novel forward model that predicts the accumulation of the cosmic-ray produced nuclides 10Be, 21Ne, and 26Al in quartz in the Ong Valley englacial and supraglacial debris. Large observed downcore variation in measured cosmogenic nuclide concentrations suggests that the englacial debris is sourced both from subglacially-derived material and recycled surface debris that has experienced surface exposure to cosmic rays prior to entrainment. Modeled results show that the upper section of the ice core is 2.95 +0.18/-0.22 Myrs. The average ice sublimation rate during this time period is 22.86 +0.10/-0.09 m Myr-1, and the surface erosion rate of the debris is 0.206 +0.013/-0.017 m Myr-1. Burial dating of the recycled paleo surface debris suggests that the lower section of the ice core belongs to a separate, older ice mass which is estimated to be 4.3-5.1 Myrs old. The ages of these two stacked, but temporally separate ice masses can be directly related to glacial advances of the Antarctic ice sheet and potentially coincide with two major global glaciations during the early and late Pliocene Epoch when global temperatures and CO2 were higher than present. These ancient ice masses represent new opportunities for gathering information on past climates

Design of a Transtibial Prosthesis Utilizing Active and Passive Components in Conjunction with a Four-Bar Mechanism

This thesis outlines the design and testing of a powered ankle prosthesis which utilizes a four-bar mechanism in conjunction with a spiral torsion spring and a servo motor that mimics non-amputee (normal) ankle moments during the stance phase of gait. Previous research has shown that this novel approach is feasible, but the proof-of-concept prototype was not designed to be able to be worn by an amputee due to size, strength and mobility limitations. The goal of this research was to redesign the transtibial prosthesis to fit the requirements of the targeted amputee population. A preliminary virtual prosthesis was designed using a computer-aided engineering (CAE) program; it was then subjected to a dynamic motion simulation (equivalent to the bench testing standards) where reaction forces between components were recorded. A finite element analysis (FEA) was then performed on crucial components to ensure safety, aid in material selection, and reduce weight. With a thorough FEA complete, components of the prosthesis were machined, and then the prosthesis was constructed and bench tested for the foot-flat through toe-off portion of gait (stance phase). A prosthesis was designed, optimized, fabricated, and tested with the purpose of demonstrating its ability to match crucial ankle moments during the stance phase of gait

Normal cervical changes in parous women during the second half of pregnancy--a prospective, longitudinal ultrasound study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine what constitutes normal cervical changes during the second half of pregnancy in parous women delivering at term. DESIGN: The study comprises 21 healthy, pregnant parous women who all gave birth at term. They were examined with transvaginal ultrasound every two weeks from 24 gestational weeks until delivery. Cervical length and width were measured. The inner cervical os was assessed as being closed or open, the length and width of any opening were measured, and dynamic cervical changes (i.e. opening and closing of the inner cervical os during examination) were noted. RESULTS: Median cervical length was 41 mm (range 26-55) at the first examination and 29 mm (range 8-56) at the last examination. The corresponding figures for cervical width were 38 mm (range 29-47) and 46 mm (range 38-64). Cervical length decreased in 18 women but remained unchanged in three. Three patterns of change in cervical length were observed: in 12 women there was a steady, continuous decrease in cervical length (median decrease rate 1.1 mm/week, range 0.6-2.4); in four women the decrease rate accelerated towards the end of pregnancy, the median decrease rate after the change being 3.0 mm/week (range 1.5-4.8); and in two women there was a sudden drop in cervical length at term. Cervical width increased in 16 women but remained unchanged in five. Two patterns of change in cervical width were seen: 14 women manifested a steady continuous increase in cervical width (median 0.8 mm/week, range 0.4-1.8); in two women the increase rate accelerated from around 34 gestational weeks, the increase rate after the change being 4.1 and 5.9 mm/week, respectively. Opening of the internal cervical os was observed at least once in 11 (52%) women and was seen as early as at 24 and 25 gestational weeks in two women. The opening was always V-shaped (median length 6 mm, range 4-17; median width 7 mm, range 3-20). Dynamic changes of the internal cervical os were seen in three women (14%) at 25, 30 and 41 gestational weeks, respectively. CONCLUSION: The cervix of parous women decreases in length and increases in width from midpregnancy to term, but the pattern of change varies between individuals. Knowledge of the different patterns of normal change forms the basis of transvaginal ultrasound studies of pathological cervical changes during pregnancy

KBT via internet för patienter med egentlig depression inom öppenvårdspsykiatrin

Föreliggande studie syftade till att undersöka guidad internetbaserad självhjälpsbehandling, enligt kognitiv beteendeteori, inom öppenvårdspsykiatrin för patienter med egentlig depression. Studien använde case series design och författarna följde symtomförändring hos sex patienter med egentlig depression under behandlingens åtta veckor med hjälp av Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale – Self rated (MADRS-S). Författarna ville även studera om patienterna skattade en kliniskt signifikant minskning av symtom efter behandlingen samt om behandlingen tycks lämpa sig för patienter med egentlig depression inom öppenvårdspsykiatrin. Klinisk signifikans mättes genom Reliable Change Index (RCI) och hur skattningarna låg i förhållande till uppsatta cutoff-värden för två av skattningsskalorna. För att även undersöka patienternas upplevelser av ångest och mental hälsa före och efter behandlingen användes: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) och Outcome Questionnaire 45 (OQ-45). Resultaten visade att fyra patienter i studien skattade en reliabelt lägre grad av depressiva symtom, av dessa kunde en patient anses kliniskt signifikant återställd. En patient, samma patient som kunde anses kliniskt signifikant återställd, skattade en reliabelt minskad grad av ångest och ökad mental hälsa efter behandlingen. En patient uppvisade inga reliabla förändringsvärden på något av instrumenten och en patient skattade en reliabel försämring av depressiva symtom sett till MADRS-S. Guidad internetbaserad behandling tycks lämpa sig för en majoritet av patienterna i samplet. Vidare forskning krävs för att fastställa i vilken utsträckning behandlingen lämpar sig inom öppenvårdspsykiatrin för patienter med egentlig depression

Livskvalitet hos patienter som vårdats på thoraxintensivvårdsavdelning

En IVA-patient utsätts för en mängd påfrestningar och obehagliga procedurer. Patienter som vårdats på en intensivvårdsavdelning [IVA] har sänkt hälsorelaterad livskvalitet och återvänder ofta inte till samma nivå av hälsa, i alla fall inte de första åren. En sänkt hälsorelaterad livskvalitet påverkar inte bara patienten själv utan även dess anhöriga och sjukvården vilket kan leda till en ökad kostnad i dagens samhälle. Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva hälsorelaterad livskvalitet efter utskrivning hos thoraxintensivvårdspatienter i relation till ålder, kön, diagnos och antal vårddygn. Studien var en enkätundersökning där formuläret EQ-5D användes och är en del av ett pågående utvärderingsprojekt på thoraxintensivvårdsavdelningen på Lunds universitetssjukhus. Resultatet visade ingen skillnad i livskvalitet beroende på ålder, däremot fanns statistiskt signifikant skillnad mellan kön, vårdtid och ålder där kvinnor hade sämre livskvalitet än män, patienter med längre vårdtid sämre livskvalitet än de med kortare vårdtid och patienter som genomgått CABG- eller klaffoperation hade sämre livskvalitet än övriga diagnoser även om skillnaderna var små. Studier om livskvalitet är ett relativt nytt forskningsområde som har betydelse i dagens allt mer kostnadseffektiva samhälle. Eftersom livskvalitet är ett komplext forskningsområde behövs fler studier på IVA-patienters livskvalitet och speciellt på thoraxintensivvårdspatienter

Creating Sustainable Neighborhood Design for Legacy Cities: A New Framework for Sustainability Assessment

Highly vacant neighborhoods present challenges for balancing social, environmental, and economic considerations for land reuse. Since the 1960’s, many post-Industrial cities such as Detroit have seen extreme population decline, creating severe economic loss and disinvestment in their communities. Strategies and opportunities for stabilization and revitalization, especially those that can be created and implemented by community groups, have become particularly important in these legacy (shrinking) cities. This report uses a case study site on the Lower East Side of Detroit to examine how the Community Development Advocates of Detroit (CDAD) Strategic Framework, a new land use and development framework for highly vacant cities, can be used to influence the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) criteria to allow it to better consider the social, economic, and environmental context of a legacy city. The land use typology described in CDAD’s Strategic Framework inform the criteria in the LEED-ND valuation tool measuring the sustainability of a neighborhood in order to create a new framework: Sustainable Neighborhood Development for Legacy Cities (SND-LC). SND-LC provides recommendations to further integrate social capital, social equity, and ecological considerations into the two frameworks through various planning and design techniques. Joan Nassauer’s concept of “cues to care” is instrumental for examining social capital in vacant neighborhoods and in identifying opportunities to grow social networks. Recommendations for land use reconsiderations call for the integration of social variables such as neighborhood cohesion and access to resources, as well as ecological variables such as stormwater and green space connectivity. Recommendations in SND-LC encourage retrofitting and illustrate how sustainability can be achieved through a more strategic use of vacant land areas rather than through compactness or new development. The new credit rating system applies the economic and social conditions of a legacy city to a new valuation system that can allow highly vacant neighborhoods across the country to achieve a sustainable neighborhood status.Master of Landscape ArchitectureMaster of ScienceNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90939/1/Final OAP Completed Project 4.26.pd

Revisión bibliográfica: Marcadores analíticos del envejecimiento humano

Resumen: La esperanza de vida y la proporción de personas mayores en la población están aumentando, con consecuencias de largo alcance para el panorama social, político y económico. Este envejecimiento poblacional está acompañado la mayoría de las veces de las enfermedades relacionadas con la edad, con consecuencias directas sobre los recursos de atención médica. Debido a esto existe una clara necesidad de encontrar medidas para evaluar dicho envejecimiento poblacional, y una de ellas puede ser estudiando los biomarcadores transmitidos por la sangre, ya que son fácilmente obtenibles, rentables y ampliamente utilizadas en controles de rutinas en los centros de salud y hospitales. Objetivo Realizar una revisión sistemática para identificar aquellos marcadores analíticos que pueden utilizarse para cuantificar el grado de envejecimiento y pronóstico vital, con la finalidad de promover un envejecimiento sano, así como aumentar los años libre de enfermedad. Métodos Se realizó una búsqueda sistemática en la plataforma Pubmed Medline de todo lo publicado en lengua inglesa en los últimos 5 años (2014-2019). Además de estas bases de datos se utilizó la biblioteca de la Universidad de Zaragoza mediante el buscador Alcorze para localizar aquellos artículos que en Pubmed no aparecían en textos completos. Resultados De un total de 1113 estudios identificados en las búsquedas iniciales, 23 cumplieron los criterios de inclusión. Se identificaron numerosos biomarcadores sanguíneos potencialmente relacionados e implicados con el proceso de envejecimiento. Conclusión: Los marcadores analíticos del envejecimiento humano muestran una estrecha relación con la función cardiovascular, el metabolismo de la glucosa, la inflamación, el estado nutricional y la endocrinología. La resistencia a la insulina y las disminuciones fisiológicas en el IGF-1 caracterizan el proceso del envejecimiento, la DM-2 y el envejecimiento son factores de riesgo para el desarrollo de la ECV, y parece haber una asociación entre dinámica mitocondrial deteriorada con ECVs. Evidentemente, los diferentes sistemas y órganos a través de sus biomarcadores tienen efectos directos o indirectos sobre el sistema cardiovascular, el cual parece marcar el proceso del envejecimiento. Palabras claves: "Envejecimiento / sangre", "Biomarcadores / sangre", marcadores. <br /

Börsnotering, drömmen som aldrig blev av!

Under 1997 ville många bolag in på börsen, hälften av bolagen genomförde aldrig börs-introduktionen. Utifrån uppsatsen kan följande bakomliggande orsaker till detta konstateras: börsklimat och värderingen av exitalternativen är faktorer vilka spelar en avgörande roll för beslut att inte genomföra en notering, vilket står i motsats till teorin om en effektiv marknad. Ökningen av antalet riskkapital-bolag har reducerat det finansiella gapet och minskat börsens betydelse för företag. En planerad notering innebär att bolaget sänder ut signalen, att ägarna söker en exit, till marknaden. Vanligtvis får bolaget därmed större massmedial uppmärksamhet. Reglerna och kraven som omgärdar börsen har på senare år blivit mer omfattande, vilket innebär ökade kostnader för noterade bolag. Detta påverkar framför allt mindre företag

An autocrine sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling loop enhances NF-kappaB-activation and survival

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