Healthy Dietary Interventions and Lipoprotein (a) Plasma Levels: Results from the Omni Heart Trial

Background: Increased lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] levels are associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Studies of dietary interventions on changes in Lp(a) are sparse. We aimed to compare the effects of three healthy dietary interventions differing in macronutrient content on Lp(a) concentration. Methods: Secondary analysis of a randomized, 3-period crossover feeding study including 155 (89 blacks; 66 whites) individuals. Participants were given DASH-type healthy diets rich in carbohydrates [Carb], in protein [Prot] or in unsaturated fat [Unsat Fat] for 6 weeks each. Plasma Lp(a) concentration was assessed at baseline and after each diet. Results: Compared to baseline, all interventional diets increased mean Lp(a) by 2 to 5 mg/dl. Unsat Fat increased Lp(a) less than Prot with a difference of 1.0 mg/dl (95% CI, −0.5, 2.5; p = 0.196) in whites and 3.7 mg/dl (95% CI, 2.4, 5.0; p<0.001) in blacks (p-value between races = 0.008); Unsat Fat increased Lp(a) less than Carb with a difference of −0.6 mg/dl, 95% CI, −2.1, 0.9; p = 0.441) in whites and −1.5 mg/dl (95% CI, −0.2, −2.8; p = 0.021) in blacks (p-value between races = 0.354). Prot increased Lp(a) more than Carb with a difference of 0.4 mg/dl (95% CI, −1.1, 1.9; p = 0.597) in whites and 2.2 mg/dl (95%CI, 0.9, 3.5; p = 0.001) in blacks (p-value between races = 0.082). Conclusion: Diets high in unsaturated fat increased Lp(a) levels less than diets rich in carbohydrate or protein with greater changes in blacks than whites. Our results suggest that substitutions with dietary mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids in healthy diets may be preferable over protein or carbohydrates with regards to Lp(a). Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT0005135

The Dynamic X-Ray Sky of the Local Universe

Over the next decade, we can expect time domain astronomy to flourish at optical and radio wavelengths. In parallel with these efforts, a dedicated transient machine operating at higher energies (X-ray band through soft gamma-rays) is required to reveal the unique subset of events with variable emission predominantly visible above 100 eV. Here we focus on the transient phase space never yet sampled due to the lack of a sensitive, wide-field and triggering facility dedicated exclusively to catching high energy transients and enabling rapid coordinated multi-wavelength follow-up. We first describe the advancements in our understanding of known X-ray transients that can only be enabled through such a facility and then focus on the classes of transients theoretically predicted to be out of reach of current detection capabilities. Finally there is the exciting opportunity of revealing new classes of X-ray transients and unveiling their nature through coordinated follow-up observations at longer wavelengths

SPI observations of positron annihilation radiation from the 4th galactic quadrant: sky distribution

During its first year in orbit the INTEGRAL observatory performed deep exposures of the Galactic Center region and scanning observations of the Galactic plane. We report on the status of our analysis of the positron annihilation radiation from the 4th Galactic quadrant with the spectrometer SPI, focusing on the sky distribution of the 511 keV line emission. The analysis methods are described; current constraints and limits on the Galactic bulge emission and the bulge-to-disk ratio are presented.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in the proceedings of the 5th INTEGRAL worksho

Observations of SN2011fe with INTEGRAL

SN2011fe was detected by the Palomar Transient Factory on August 24th 2011 in M101 few hours after the explosion. From the early spectra it was immediately realized that it was a Type Ia supernova thus making this event the brightest one discovered in the last twenty years. In this paper the observations performed with the instruments on board of INTEGRAL (SPI, IBIS/ISGRI, JEM-X and OMC) before and after the maximum of the optical light as well as the interpretation in terms of the existing models of $\gamma$--ray emission from such kind of supernovae are reported. All INTEGRAL high-energy have only been able to provide upper limits to the expected emission due to the decay of $^{56}$Ni. These bounds allow to reject explosions involving a massive white dwarf in the sub--Chandrasekhar scenario. On the other hand, the optical light curve obtained with the OMC camera suggests that the event was produced by a delayed detonation of a CO white dwarf that produced $\sim 0.5$ M$\odot$ of $^{56}$Ni. In this particular case, INTEGRAL would have only been able to detect the early $\gamma$--ray emission if the supernova had occurred at a distance of 2 -3 Mpc, although the brightest event could be visible up to distances larger by a factor two.Comment: Proceedings of "An INTEGRAL view of the high-energy sky (the first 10 years)" the 9th INTEGRAL Workshop, October 15-19, 2012, Paris, France, in Proceedings of Science (INTEGRAL 2012), Eds. A. Goldwurm, F. Lebrun and C. Winkler, http://pos.sissa.it/cgi-bin/reader/conf.cgi?confid=176, id number PoS (INTEGRAL 2012) 103 (2013

Pulse-pressure variation and hemodynamic response in patients with elevated pulmonary artery pressure: a clinical study

Pulse-pressure variation (PPV) due to increased right ventricular afterload and dysfunction may misleadingly suggest volume responsiveness. We aimed to assess prediction of volume responsiveness with PPV in patients with increased pulmonary artery pressure

Observation of SN2011fe with INTEGRAL. I. Pre--maximum phase

SN2011fe was detected by the Palomar Transient Factory on August 24th 2011 in M101 a few hours after the explosion. From the early optical spectra it was immediately realized that it was a Type Ia supernova thus making this event the brightest one discovered in the last twenty years. The distance of the event offered the rare opportunity to perform a detailed observation with the instruments on board of INTEGRAL to detect the gamma-ray emission expected from the decay chains of $^{56}$Ni. The observations were performed in two runs, one before and around the optical maximum, aimed to detect the early emission from the decay of $^{56}$Ni and another after this maximum aimed to detect the emission of $^{56}$Co. The observations performed with the instruments on board of INTEGRAL (SPI, IBIS/ISGRI, JEMX and OMC) have been analyzed and compared with the existing models of gamma-ray emission from such kind of supernovae. In this paper, the analysis of the gamma-ray emission has been restricted to the first epoch. Both, SPI and IBIS/ISGRI, only provide upper-limits to the expected emission due to the decay of $^{56}$Ni. These upper-limits on the gamma-ray flux are of 7.1 $\times$ 10$^{-5}$ ph/s/cm$^2$ for the 158 keV line and of 2.3 $\times$ 10$^{-4}$ ph/s/cm$^2$ for the 812 keV line. These bounds allow to reject at the $2\sigma$ level explosions involving a massive white dwarf, $\sim 1$ M$\odot$ in the sub--Chandrasekhar scenario and specifically all models that would have substantial amounts of radioactive $^{56}$Ni in the outer layers of the exploding star responsible of the SN2011fe event. The optical light curve obtained with the OMC camera also suggests that SN2011fe was the outcome of the explosion, possibly a delayed detonation although other models are possible, of a CO white dwarf that synthesized $\sim 0.55$ M$_\odot$ of $^{56}$Ni. For this specific model.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 10 pages, 10 figure

ESAF-Simulation of the EUSO-Balloon

For the JEM-EUSO CollaborationThe EUSO-Balloon is a balloon borne ultraviolet (UV) telescope, which is being developed as a pathfinder of the JEM-EUSO mission (Extreme Universe Space Observatory onboard the Japanese Experiment Module on the International Space Station (ISS), see this conference proceedings). Designed as a scaled version of JEM-EUSO, the EUSO-Balloon will serve as a technology demonstrator. From 2014 on, it is planned to conduct a number of missions, between a few and several tens of hours at an altitude of approx. 40 km. Besides proving the robustness of the JEM-EUSO technology it will perform UV background studies under many different ground conditions and potentially observe extended air showers (EAS) induced by ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR) of the order of 10^18 eV. The detector design consists of a system of Fresnel lenses focussing the incoming 300 - 400 nm UV fluorescence photons onto an array of multi-anode photomultipliers. Generated photoelectrons are then readout by the front end electronics, converted into digital data and saved to disc if a trigger is issued. The ESAF (EUSO Simulation and Analysis Framework) software package is designed to simulate space based observation of EAS, taking into account every physical process from EAS generation, progagation of light in atmosphere, detector response and eventually reconstruction. EUSO-Balloon specifications such as the optics and dedicated electronics components have been implemented in the code to study the expected instrument behavior and its ability to resolve the UHECR arrival direction. In this poster we describe ESAF simuations of the EUSO-Balloon. Furthermore, we present results concerning the expected performance in terms of spatial resolution and background studies