Case report : synergetic effect of ischaemia and increased vagal tone inducing ventricular fibrillation in a patient with Brugada syndrome

Background Brugada syndrome (BS) is a hereditary channelopathy associated with syncope, malignant ventricular arrhythmia, and sudden cardiac death. Right ventricular ischaemia and BS have similar underlying substrates precipitating ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation (VF). Case summary A 72-year-old woman with BS and a stenosis on the proximal right coronary artery received several subsequent implantable cardioverter-defibrillator shocks due to VF during an episode of extreme nausea with vomiting. Discussion This case report emphasizes on the synergetic effect of mild ischaemia and increased vagal tone on the substrate responsible for BS to create pathophysiological changes precipitating VF

Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate

The report provides the comprehensive risk assessment of the substance Methylenediphenyl diisocyanate (MDI). It has been prepared by Belgium in the frame of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 793/93 on the evaluation and control of the risks of existing substances, following the principles for assessment of the risks to humans and the environment, laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1488/94. Part I - Environment This part of the evaluation considers the emissions and the resulting exposure to the environment in all life cycle steps. Following the exposure assessment, the environmental risk characterisation for each protection goal in the aquatic, terrestrial and atmospheric compartment has been determined. The environmental risk assessment concludes that there is no concern. Part II ¿ Human Health This part of the evaluation considers the emissions and the resulting exposure to human populations in all life cycle steps. The scenarios for occupational exposure, consumer exposure and humans exposed via the environment have been examined and the possible risks have been identified. The human health risk assessment concludes that there is concern for workers and consumers with regard to irritation of skin, eye and respiratory tract, skin sensitisation and lung effects induced by repeated inhalation exposure. There is a need for further information and for testing (on hold) on the toxicity for fertility for workers and consumers. For humans exposed via the environment and for human health (physico-chemical properties) there is no concern. The conclusions of this report will lead to risk reduction measures to be proposed by the Commission¿s committee on risk reduction strategies set up in support of Council Regulation (EEC) N. 793/93.JRC.DDG.I.2-Chemical assessment and testin

Shell chemistry of the boreal Campanian bivalve Rastellum diluvianum (Linnaeus, 1767) reveals temperature seasonality, growth rates and life cycle of an extinct Cretaceous oyster

This is the final version. Available from European Geosciences Union (EGU) / Copernicus Publications via the DOI in this record. The Campanian age (Late Cretaceous) is characterized by a warm greenhouse climate with limited land-ice volume. This makes this period an ideal target for studying climate dynamics during greenhouse periods, which are essential for predictions of future climate change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Well-preserved fossil shells from the Campanian (±78 Ma) high mid-latitude (50∘ N) coastal faunas of the Kristianstad Basin (southern Sweden) offer a unique snapshot of short-term climate and environmental variability, which complements existing long-term climate reconstructions. In this study, we apply a combination of high-resolution spatially resolved trace element analyses (micro-X-ray fluorescence – µXRF – and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry – LA-ICP-MS), stable isotope analyses (IRMS) and growth modeling to study short-term (seasonal) variations recorded in the oyster species Rastellum diluvianum from the Ivö Klack locality. Geochemical records through 12 specimens shed light on the influence of specimen-specific and ontogenetic effects on the expression of seasonal variations in shell chemistry and allow disentangling vital effects from environmental influences in an effort to refine paleoseasonality reconstructions of Late Cretaceous greenhouse climates. Growth models based on stable oxygen isotope records yield information on the mode of life, circadian rhythm and reproductive cycle of these extinct oysters. This multi-proxy study reveals that mean annual temperatures in the Campanian higher mid-latitudes were 17 to 19 ∘C, with winter minima of ∼13 ∘C and summer maxima of 26 ∘C, assuming a Late Cretaceous seawater oxygen isotope composition of −1 ‰ VSMOW (Vienna standard mean ocean water). These results yield smaller latitudinal differences in temperature seasonality in the Campanian compared to today. Latitudinal temperature gradients were similar to the present, contrasting with previous notions of “equable climate” during the Late Cretaceous. Our results also demonstrate that species-specific differences and uncertainties in the composition of Late Cretaceous seawater prevent trace element proxies (Mg∕Ca, Sr∕Ca, Mg∕Li and Sr∕Li) from being used as reliable temperature proxies for fossil oyster shells. However, trace element profiles can serve as a quick tool for diagenesis screening and investigating seasonal growth patterns in ancient shells.Flemish Institute for Science and Technology (IWT)Hercules InfrastructureFWOBelspo BRAIN ProjectCarlsbergfondetVUB Strategic Research

Mid-InfraRed imaging of the circumstellar dust around three Herbig Ae stars : HD135344, CQTau, HD163296

Planet formation has been known for many years to be tied to the spatial distribution of gas and dust in disks around young stars. To constrain planet formation models, imaging observations of protoplanetary disks are required. In this framework, we have undertaken a mid-infrared imaging survey of Herbig Ae stars, which are pre-main sequence stars of intermediate mass still surrounded by a large amount of circumstellar material. The observations were made at a wavelength of 20.5 $\mu$m with the CAMIRAS camera mounted at the Cassegrain focus of the Canada France Hawaii Telescope. We report the observations of three stars, HD135344, CQTau and HD163296. The circumstellar material around the three objects is spatially resolved. The extensions feature a disk like shape. The images provide direct information on two key parameters of the disk : its inclination and its outer radius. The outer radius is found to be quite different from the one deduced from disk models only constrained by fitting the Spectral Energy Distribution of the object. Other parameters of the disk, such as flaring, dust mass have been deduced from fitting both the observed extension and the spectral energy distribution with sophisticated disk models. Our results show how important imaging data are to tighten constraints on the disk model parameters.Comment: 10 pages, Accepted in A&

An enhanced integrated water vapour dataset from more than 10 000 global ground-based GPS stations in 2020

We developed a high-quality global integrated water vapour (IWV) dataset from 12 552 ground-based global positioning system (GPS) stations in 2020. It consists of 5 min GPS IWV estimates with a total number of 1 093 591 492 data points. The completeness rates of the IWV estimates are higher than 95 % at 7253 (58 %) stations. The dataset is an enhanced version of the existing operational GPS IWV dataset provided by the Nevada Geodetic Laboratory (NGL). The enhancement is reached by employing accurate meteorological information from the fifth generation of European ReAnalysis (ERA5) for the GPS IWV retrieval with a significantly higher spatiotemporal resolution. A dedicated data screening algorithm is also implemented. The GPS IWV dataset has a good agreement with in situ radiosonde observations at 182 collocated stations worldwide. The IWV biases are within ±3.0 kg m−2 with a mean absolute bias (MAB) value of 0.69 kg m−2. The standard deviations (SD) of IWV differences are no larger than 3.4 kg m−2. In addition, the enhanced IWV product shows substantial improvements compared to NGL\u27s operational version, and it is thus recommended for high-accuracy applications, such as research of extreme weather events and diurnal variations of IWV and intercomparisons with other IWV retrieval techniques. Taking the radiosonde-derived IWV as reference, the MAB and SD of IWV differences are reduced by 19.5 % and 6.2 % on average, respectively. The number of unrealistic negative GPS IWV estimates is also substantially reduced by 92.4 % owing to the accurate zenith hydrostatic delay (ZHD) derived by ERA5. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6973528 (Yuan et al., 2022)

Cosmic spherules from Widerøefjellet, Sør Rondane Mountains (East Antarctica)

A newly discovered sedimentary accumulation of micrometeorites in the Sør Rondane Mountains of East Antarctica, close to the Widerøefjellet summit at ~2750 meter above sea level, is characterized in this work. The focus here lies on 2099 melted cosmic spherules larger than 200 μm, extracted from 3.2 kg of sampled sediment. Although the Widerøefjellet deposit shares similarities to the micrometeorite traps encountered in the Transantarctic Mountains, both subtle and more distinct differences in the physicochemical properties of the retrieved extraterrestrial particles and sedimentary host deposits are discernable (e.g., types of bedrock, degree of wind exposure, abundance of metal-rich particles). Unlike the Frontier Mountain and Miller Butte sedimentary traps, the size fraction below 240 μm indicates some degree of sorting at Widerøefjellet, potentially through the redistribution by wind, preferential alteration of smaller particles, or processing biases. However, the cosmic spherules larger than 300 μm appear largely unbiased following their size distribution, frequency by textural type, and bulk chemical compositions. Based on the available bedrock exposure ages for the Sør Rondane Mountains, extraterrestrial dust is estimated to have accumulated over a time span of ~1 to 3 Ma at Widerøefjellet. Consequently, the Widerøefjellet collection reflects a substantial reservoir to sample the micrometeorite influx over this time interval. Petrographic observations and 3D microscopic CT imaging are combined with chemical and triple-oxygen isotopic analyses of silicate-rich cosmic spherules larger than 325 μm. The major element composition of 49 cosmic spherules confirms their principally chondritic parentage. For 18 glassy, 15 barred olivine, and 11 cryptocrystalline cosmic spherules, trace element concentrations are also reported on. Based on comparison with evaporation experiments reported in literature and accounting for siderophile and chalcophile element losses during high-density phase segregation and ejection, the observed compositional sequence largely reflects progressive heating and evaporation during atmospheric passage accompanied by significant redox shifts, although the influence of (refractory) chondrite mineral constituents and terrestrial alteration cannot be excluded in all cases. Twenty-eight cosmic spherules larger than 325 μm analyzed for triple-oxygen isotope ratios confirm inheritance from mostly carbonaceous chondritic precursor materials (~55% of the particles). Yet, ~30% of the measured cosmic spherules and ~50% of all glassy cosmic spherules are characterized by oxygen isotope ratios above the terrestrial fractionation line, implying genetic links to ordinary chondrites and parent bodies currently unsampled by meteorites. The structural, textural, chemical, and isotopic characteristics of the cosmic spherules from the Sør Rondane Mountains, and particularly the high proportion of Mg-rich glass particles contained therein, imply a well-preserved and representative new sedimentary micrometeorite collection from a previously unstudied region in East Antarctica characterized by distinct geological and exposure histories

No Differential Reward Responsivity and Drive, Punishment Sensitivity or Attention for Cues Signaling Reward or Punishment in Adolescents With Obesity

Although it has been proposed that obese and healthy weight individuals might differ in their reward and punishment sensitivity, the literature shows diverse and inconsistent findings. The current study was set out to examine the role of reward and punishment sensitivity in adolescent obesity by differentiating between reward responsivity and reward drive, and by complementing self-report measures with performance-based measures indexing attention for cues signaling reward and punishment as well as effort to approach reward and avoid punishment. Participants were adolescents aged 12-23, with obesity (n = 51, adjusted BMI [(actual BMI/Percentile 50 of BMI for age and gender) × 100) between 143 and 313%], and with a healthy weight (n = 51, adjusted BMI between 75 and 129%). Individuals with obesity did not significantly differ from adolescents with a healthy weight in reward responsivity, reward drive or attention to cues signaling reward. Further, no differences in self-reported punishment sensitivity or attention for cues signaling punishment were found between obese and healthy weight adolescents. The current study thus does not corroborate the theories that general reward and punishment sensitivity play a role in obesity

Shell chemistry of the boreal Campanian bivalve Rastellum diluvianum (Linnaeus, 1767) reveals temperature seasonality, growth rates and life cycle of an extinct Cretaceous oyster

This is the final version. Available from European Geosciences Union (EGU) / Copernicus Publications via the DOI in this record. The Campanian age (Late Cretaceous) is characterized by a warm greenhouse climate with limited land-ice volume. This makes this period an ideal target for studying climate dynamics during greenhouse periods, which are essential for predictions of future climate change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Well-preserved fossil shells from the Campanian (±78 Ma) high mid-latitude (50∘ N) coastal faunas of the Kristianstad Basin (southern Sweden) offer a unique snapshot of short-term climate and environmental variability, which complements existing long-term climate reconstructions. In this study, we apply a combination of high-resolution spatially resolved trace element analyses (micro-X-ray fluorescence – µXRF – and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry – LA-ICP-MS), stable isotope analyses (IRMS) and growth modeling to study short-term (seasonal) variations recorded in the oyster species Rastellum diluvianum from the Ivö Klack locality. Geochemical records through 12 specimens shed light on the influence of specimen-specific and ontogenetic effects on the expression of seasonal variations in shell chemistry and allow disentangling vital effects from environmental influences in an effort to refine paleoseasonality reconstructions of Late Cretaceous greenhouse climates. Growth models based on stable oxygen isotope records yield information on the mode of life, circadian rhythm and reproductive cycle of these extinct oysters. This multi-proxy study reveals that mean annual temperatures in the Campanian higher mid-latitudes were 17 to 19 ∘C, with winter minima of ∼13 ∘C and summer maxima of 26 ∘C, assuming a Late Cretaceous seawater oxygen isotope composition of −1 ‰ VSMOW (Vienna standard mean ocean water). These results yield smaller latitudinal differences in temperature seasonality in the Campanian compared to today. Latitudinal temperature gradients were similar to the present, contrasting with previous notions of “equable climate” during the Late Cretaceous. Our results also demonstrate that species-specific differences and uncertainties in the composition of Late Cretaceous seawater prevent trace element proxies (Mg∕Ca, Sr∕Ca, Mg∕Li and Sr∕Li) from being used as reliable temperature proxies for fossil oyster shells. However, trace element profiles can serve as a quick tool for diagenesis screening and investigating seasonal growth patterns in ancient shells.Flemish Institute for Science and Technology (IWT)Hercules InfrastructureFWOBelspo BRAIN ProjectCarlsbergfondetVUB Strategic Research

Structure of the outer layers of cool standard stars

Context: Among late-type red giants, an interesting change occurs in the structure of the outer atmospheric layers as one moves to later spectral types in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram: a chromosphere is always present, but the coronal emission diminishes and a cool massive wind steps in. Aims: Where most studies have focussed on short-wavelength observations, this article explores the influence of the chromosphere and the wind on long-wavelength photometric measurements. Methods: The observational spectral energy distributions are compared with the theoretical predictions of the MARCS atmosphere models for a sample of 9 K- and M-giants. The discrepancies found are explained using basic models for flux emission originating from a chromosphere or an ionized wind. Results: For 7 out of 9 sample stars, a clear flux excess is detected at (sub)millimeter and/or centimeter wavelengths. The precise start of the excess depends upon the star under consideration. The flux at wavelengths shorter than about 1 mm is most likely dominated by an optically thick chromosphere, where an optically thick ionized wind is the main flux contributor at longer wavelengths. Conclusions: Although the optical to mid-infrared spectrum of the studied K- and M-giants is well represented by a radiative equilibrium atmospheric model, the presence of a chromosphere and/or ionized stellar wind at higher altitudes dominates the spectrum in the (sub)millimeter and centimeter wavelength ranges. The presence of a flux excess also has implications on the role of these stars as fiducial spectrophotometric calibrators in the (sub)millimeter and centimeter wavelength range.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, 7 pages of online material, submitted to A&