On The Determination of MDI High-Degree Mode Frequencies

The characteristic of the solar acoustic spectrum is such that mode lifetimes get shorter and spatial leaks get closer in frequency as the degree of a mode increases for a given order. A direct consequence of this property is that individual p-modes are only resolved at low and intermediate degrees, and that at high degrees, individual modes blend into ridges. Once modes have blended into ridges, the power distribution of the ridge defines the ridge central frequency and it will mask the true underlying mode frequency. An accurate model of the amplitude of the peaks that contribute to the ridge power distribution is needed to recover the underlying mode frequency from fitting the ridge. We present the results of fitting high degree power ridges (up to l = 900) computed from several two to three-month-long time-series of full-disk observations taken with the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on-board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory between 1996 and 1999. We also present a detailed discussion of the modeling of the ridge power distribution, and the contribution of the various observational and instrumental effects on the spatial leakage, in the context of the MDI instrument. We have constructed a physically motivated model (rather than some ad hoc correction scheme) resulting in a methodology that can produce an unbiased determination of high-degree modes, once the instrumental characteristics are well understood. Finally, we present changes in high degree mode parameters with epoch and thus solar activity level and discuss their significance.Comment: 59 pages, 38 figures -- High-resolution version at http://www-sgk.harvard.edu:1080/~sylvain/preprints/ -- Manuscript submitted to Ap

Effet Répulsif de Faibles Concentrations de l’Huile Essentielle de Clausena anisata (Rutaceae) contre les Moustiques (Diptera : Culicidae) au Bénin (Afrique de l’Ouest)

La présente étude a évalué l’effet répulsif de faibles concentrations de l’huile essentielle de Clausena anisata contre le moustique Culex quinquefasciatus aussitôt après application au laboratoire afin de déterminer la concentration optimale à utiliser pour la mise au point d'un répulsif. L’huile essentielle est extraite des feuilles séchées de C. anisata en utilisant la technique de distillation par la vapeur. L'huile essentielle est dissoute dans de l'isopropanol et les concentrations suivantes ont été testées: 0,25%; 0,50%; 0,75%; 1%; 1,25% et 1,50%. La solution ayant la concentration de l’huile essentielle à tester est appliquée sur l'avant-bras des volontaires ayant donné leur consentement éclairé. Immédiatement après application, l'avant-bras traité est placé dans une cage contenant 25 femelles de moustiques Cx. quinquefasciatus  élevés au laboratoire. Le nombre de moustiques qui viennent se poser sur l’avant-bras traité est compté sur une durée de 15 minutes et le nombre de moustiques effectivement gorgés de sang est déterminé. Les résultats ont montré que le taux de répulsion augmente au fur et à mesure que la concentration de l’huile essentielle augmente. Ce taux de répulsion est de 64,91%; 75% et 84,21% respectivement pour les concentrations de 0,25%; 0,50% et 0,75%. Les concentrations de 1%; 1,25% et 1,50% ont repoussé 100% des moustiques. Le pourcentage de moustiques gorgés de sang sur l’avant-bras des volontaires traités est de 5,74 ; 1,64 et 1,22 respectivement pour les concentrations de 0,25% ; 0,50% et 0.75% de l'huile essentielle. Pour les concentrations de 1 % ;  1,25% et 1,50% le pourcentage de moustiques gorgés est de 0 %. Sur la base de ces résultats, nous pouvons conclure que les faibles concentrations de l’huile essentielle de C. anisata ont un effet répulsif contre les moustiques. Nous suggérons donc l’évaluation de la persistance dans le temps de l’effet répulsif de différentes concentrations de cette huile contre les moustiques.   The present study evaluated the repellent effect of low concentrations of Clausena anisata essential oil against Culex quinquefasciatus immediately after application in the laboratory in order to determine the optimal concentration to use for the development of a repellent. The essential oil has been extracted from dried leaves of C. anisata using the steam distillation technique. The essential oil was dissolved in isopropanol and following oil concentrations were tested: 0,25%; 0,50%; 0,75%; 1%; 1,25% and 1,50%. A known concentration of the essential oil was applied to the forearm of a consenting volunteer.  Immediately after application, treated forearm is placed in the cage containing 25 female laboratory reared Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes. The numbers of mosquitoes landing and biting on the forearm during a 15-min period post-application was recorded. Results showed that the repellency rates increased with increasing essential oil concentration. The repellency rate was 64,91%; 75% and 84,21% respectively for 0,25%; 0,50% and 0,75%  essential oil  concentration. Concentrations of 1% ; 1,25% and 1,50% repelled 100% mosquitoes. The percentage of mosquitoes taking blood on the volunteers forearm was 5,74; 1,64 and 1,22 respectively for 0,25%; 0,50% and 0,75% of C. anisata essential oil. This percentage of mosquitoes taking blood was 0% for concentrations of 1%; 1,25% and 1,50%. Based on these results, we can conclude that low concentrations of C. anisata essential oil have a repellent effect against mosquitoes. For investigations further, we suggest in order to assess the persistence of the repellent effect of different concentrations of this essential oil against mosquitoes

Effet Répulsif de Faibles Concentrations de l’Huile Essentielle de Clausena anisata (Rutaceae) contre les Moustiques (Diptera : Culicidae) au Bénin (Afrique de l’Ouest)

La présente étude a évalué l’effet répulsif de faibles concentrations de l’huile essentielle de Clausena anisata contre le moustique Culex quinquefasciatus aussitôt après application au laboratoire afin de déterminer la concentration optimale à utiliser pour la mise au point d'un répulsif. L’huile essentielle est extraite des feuilles séchées de C. anisata en utilisant la technique de distillation par la vapeur. L'huile essentielle est dissoute dans de l'isopropanol et les concentrations suivantes ont été testées: 0,25%; 0,50%; 0,75%; 1%; 1,25% et 1,50%. La solution ayant la concentration de l’huile essentielle à tester est appliquée sur l'avant-bras des volontaires ayant donné leur consentement éclairé. Immédiatement après application, l'avant-bras traité est placé dans une cage contenant 25 femelles de moustiques Cx. quinquefasciatus  élevés au laboratoire. Le nombre de moustiques qui viennent se poser sur l’avant-bras traité est compté sur une durée de 15 minutes et le nombre de moustiques effectivement gorgés de sang est déterminé. Les résultats ont montré que le taux de répulsion augmente au fur et à mesure que la concentration de l’huile essentielle augmente. Ce taux de répulsion est de 64,91%; 75% et 84,21% respectivement pour les concentrations de 0,25%; 0,50% et 0,75%. Les concentrations de 1%; 1,25% et 1,50% ont repoussé 100% des moustiques. Le pourcentage de moustiques gorgés de sang sur l’avant-bras des volontaires traités est de 5,74 ; 1,64 et 1,22 respectivement pour les concentrations de 0,25% ; 0,50% et 0.75% de l'huile essentielle. Pour les concentrations de 1 % ;  1,25% et 1,50% le pourcentage de moustiques gorgés est de 0 %. Sur la base de ces résultats, nous pouvons conclure que les faibles concentrations de l’huile essentielle de C. anisata ont un effet répulsif contre les moustiques. Nous suggérons donc l’évaluation de la persistance dans le temps de l’effet répulsif de différentes concentrations de cette huile contre les moustiques.   The present study evaluated the repellent effect of low concentrations of Clausena anisata essential oil against Culex quinquefasciatus immediately after application in the laboratory in order to determine the optimal concentration to use for the development of a repellent. The essential oil has been extracted from dried leaves of C. anisata using the steam distillation technique. The essential oil was dissolved in isopropanol and following oil concentrations were tested: 0,25%; 0,50%; 0,75%; 1%; 1,25% and 1,50%. A known concentration of the essential oil was applied to the forearm of a consenting volunteer.  Immediately after application, treated forearm is placed in the cage containing 25 female laboratory reared Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes. The numbers of mosquitoes landing and biting on the forearm during a 15-min period post-application was recorded. Results showed that the repellency rates increased with increasing essential oil concentration. The repellency rate was 64,91%; 75% and 84,21% respectively for 0,25%; 0,50% and 0,75%  essential oil  concentration. Concentrations of 1% ; 1,25% and 1,50% repelled 100% mosquitoes. The percentage of mosquitoes taking blood on the volunteers forearm was 5,74; 1,64 and 1,22 respectively for 0,25%; 0,50% and 0,75% of C. anisata essential oil. This percentage of mosquitoes taking blood was 0% for concentrations of 1%; 1,25% and 1,50%. Based on these results, we can conclude that low concentrations of C. anisata essential oil have a repellent effect against mosquitoes. For investigations further, we suggest in order to assess the persistence of the repellent effect of different concentrations of this essential oil against mosquitoes

Effet Répulsif de Faibles Concentrations de l’Huile Essentielle de Clausena anisata (Rutaceae) Contre les Moustiques Adultes (Diptera: Culicidae)

La présente étude a évalué l’effet répulsif de faibles concentrations de l’huile essentielle de Clausena anisata contre le moustique adulte Culex quinquefasciatus aussitôt après application au laboratoire afin de déterminer la concentration optimale à utiliser pour la mise au point d'un répulsif. L’huile essentielle est extraite des feuilles séchées de C. anisata en utilisant la technique de distillation par la vapeur. Les concentrations de 0,25 %, 0,50 %, 0,75 %, 1 %, 1,25 %, et 1,50 % de l’huile essentielle de C. anisata ont été testées sur la peau de dix personnes volontaires. Pour les tests, la peau de la main et de l'avant-bras a été traitée. Immédiatement après application, la partie traitée était placée dans une cage contenant 25 femelles de moustiques Cx. quinquefasciatus élevés au laboratoire. Le nombre de moustiques qui se pose sur la peau traitée durant les 15 premières minutes est compté et le nombre de moustiques effectivement gorgés de sang est déterminé. Les résultats ont montré que le taux de répulsion augmente au fur et à mesure que la concentration de l’huile essentielle augmente. Ce taux de répulsion était de 64,91, 75, et 84,21 % pour les concentrations de l’huile essentielle de 0,25 %, 0,50 % et 0,75 %, respectivement. Les concentrations de 1 %, 1,25 %, et 1,50 % ont repoussé 100 % des moustiques. Le pourcentage de moustiques gorgés de sang sur les personnes traitées était de 5,74, 1,64, et 1,22 % pour les concentrations de  0,25 %, 0,50 %, et 0,75 %, respectivement. Aucun moustique n'était gorgé de sang pour les tests réalisés avec  les concentrations de l’huile essentielle de 1 %, 1,25 %, et 1,50 %. Les résultats de cette étude indiquent que les faibles concentrations de l’huile essentielle de C. anisata ont un effet répulsif contre les adultes du moustique Cx. quinquefasciatus. Ces résultats suggèrent que les concentrations de 1 %, 1,25 %, et 1,50 % sont les concentrations de l'huile essentielle qui ont permis d'obtenir un effet répulsif optimal durant les 15 premières minutes qui suivent leur application. Nous suggérons donc l’évaluation de la persistance dans le temps de l’effet répulsif de différentes concentrations de cette huile essentielle contre les moustiques.   This paper focuses on evaluating the repellent effect of low concentrations of Clausena anisata essential oil against Culex quinquefasciatus immediately after application in the laboratory in order to determine the optimal concentration to use for the development of a repellent. The essential oil was extracted from the dried leaves of C. anisata using the steam distillation technique. Concentrations of 0.25 %, 0.50 %, 0.75 %, 1 %, 1.25 %, and 1.50 % of C. anisata essential oil were tested on the skin of ten human volunteers. For the tests, the skin of the hand and forearm was treated. Immediately after application, the treated part was placed in the cage containing 25 female laboratory reared Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes. The number of mosquitoes landing and biting on the treated skin during a 15-min period post-application was recorded. Results showed that the repellency rates increased with increasing essential oil concentration. This repellency rate was 64.91, 75, and 84.21 % for essential oil concentrations of 0.25 %, 0.50 %, and 0.75 %, respectively. Concentrations of 1 %, 1.25 %, and 1.50 % repelled 100 % mosquitoes. The percentage of mosquitoes taking blood on treated persons was 5.74, 1.64, and 1.22 % for concentration of 0.25 %, 0.50 %, and 0.75 %, respectively. For tests performed with essential oil concentrations of 1 %, 1.25 %, and 1.50 %, no mosquitoes took blood. The results of this study indicate that low concentrations of C. anisata essential oil has a repellent effect against adults of Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes. These results suggest that the concentrations of 1%, 1.25%, and 1.50% are the concentrations of the essential oil which made it possible to obtain an optimal repellent effect during the first 15 minutes following their application. For further investigations, the persistence of the repellent effect of different concentrations of this essential oil against mosquitoes should be assessed

Cognitive Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation in Older Outpatients Visiting a Memory Clinic: A Pre–Post Study

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Associations between anxiety, body mass index, and sex hormones in women

Background: Several studies have shown a positive association between anxiety and obesity, particularly in women. We aimed to study whether sex hormone alterations related to obesity might play a role in this association. Patients and methods: Data for this study were obtained from a population-based cohort study (the LIFE-Adult-Study). A total of 3,124 adult women (970 premenopausal and 2,154 postmenopausal) were included into the analyses. The anxiety symptomatology was assessed using the GAD-7 questionnaire (cut-off ≥ 10 points). Sex hormones were measured from fasting serum samples. Results: We did not find significant differences in anxiety prevalence in premenopausal obese women compared with normal-weight controls (4.8% vs. 5.5%). Both obesity and anxiety symptomatology were separately associated with the same sex hormone alteration in premenopausal women: higher total testosterone level (0.97 ± 0.50 in obese vs. 0.86 ± 0.49 nmol/L in normal-weight women, p = 0.026 and 1.04 ± 0.59 in women with vs. 0.88 ± 0.49 nmol/L in women without anxiety symptomatology, p = 0.023). However, women with anxiety symptomatology had non-significantly higher estradiol levels than women without anxiety symptomatology (548.0 ± 507.6 vs. 426.2 ± 474.0 pmol/L), whereas obesity was associated with lower estradiol levels compared with those in normal-weight group (332.7 ± 386.5 vs. 470.8 ± 616.0 pmol/L). Women with anxiety symptomatology had also significantly higher testosterone and estradiol composition (p = 0.006). No associations of sex hormone levels and BMI with anxiety symptomatology in postmenopausal women were found. Conclusions: Although both obesity and anxiety symptomatology were separately associated with higher testosterone level, there was an opposite impact of anxiety and obesity on estradiol levels in premenopausal women. We did not find an evidence that the sex hormone alterations related to obesity are playing a significant role in anxiety symptomatology in premenopausal women. This could be the explanation why we did not find an association between obesity and anxiety. In postmenopausal women, other mechanisms seem to work than in the premenopausal group

Notostraca trackways in Permian playa environments of the Lodève basin (France)

Durante casi veinte años, el Dr Lapeyrie, cirujano en Lodève, ha reunido numerosos fósiles provenientes de la Formación del Salagou de la cuenca pérmica de Lodève. Los mismos incluyen insectos, notostráceos, plantas e icnofósiles. Entre los últimos, hay una multitud de pistas de artrópodos, muy bien preservadas, las cuales fueron recogidas en el techo de secuencias depositadas en alrededores de lagos tipo playa. Experimentos sobre locomoción de artrópodos efectuados con animales actuales sugieren que la mayoría de las pistas estudidas fueron producidas por Notostracos de los cuales se han encontrado algunos millares de restos (caparazónes, apéndices, cuerpos enteros) asignados a Triops cancriformis permiensis y Lepidurus occitaniacus. Todos estos rastros fueron producidos de forma subacuática y corresponden a diferentes eto-morfotipos conocidos en la literatura con el nombre de Acripes para las huellas de locomoción, de Rusophycus para las de descanso y excavación (posiciones horizontales, proclinales y opistoclinales) y de Cruziana para locomoción y excavación activa. Numerosas planchas fósiliferas permiten ver claramente el paso de una actividad a la otra. Esta situación fue registrada en una película con Lepidurus actuales. Se reconocieron los icnotaxones Acribes multiformis nov. isp, Rusophycus eutendorfensis, R. carbonarius, R. versans, R. minutus, R. furcosus, Cruziana problematica, C. pascens y, menos abundantemente, Scoyenia isp. También fueron encontradas numerosas pisadas, destacando la icnofacies Scoyenia, encontrándose solamente en los «overbank settings». Para la Formación del Salagou, éstos corresponden a llanuras de inundación/playas donde las zonas inundadas eran temporales y de poca profundidad, y en las que vivían Notostracos, Insectos, Aracnidos y Concostracos (= Spinicaudata + Laevicaudata), este último grupo conocido solamente por cuerpos-fósiles. Este ambiente de playa distal, desarrollado en un clima árido, ha perdurado durante una gran parte del Pérmico, posiblemente entre el Cisuraliense superior y el Lopingiense inferior

Management of high-risk patients with hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy in Germany: differences between cardiac specialists in the inpatient and outpatient setting

BACKGROUND: Among patients with hypertension, those with established left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) represent a high risk cohort with poor prognosis. We aimed to investigate differences in characteristics and health care management of such patients treated as inpatients or outpatients by cardiac specialists. METHODS: Prospective cross-sectional study in patients with hypertension and LVH who were referred to either inpatient care (rehabilitation hospitals) or to outpatient care (cardiology practices). RESULTS: A total of 6358 inpatients (59.6% males; mean age 66.6 years) and 2246 outpatients (59.5% males; mean age 63.2 years) were followed up for a mean of 23 vs. 52 days, respectively. Inpatients compared to outpatients had a significantly higher prevalence of coronary heart disease, history of stroke, renal failure or diabetes. Mean blood pressure of inpatients compared to outpatients was significantly lower both at entry (150/84 vs. 161/93 mmHg) and at end of follow-up (129/75 vs. 139/83 mmHg). After adjustment for baseline blood pressure and a propensity score, differences between out- and inpatients at end of follow-up were 8.0/5.1 mmHg in favour of inpatients. Blood pressure goals as specified by guidelines were not met by 32% of inpatients and 55% of outpatients. CONCLUSION: Inpatients had a higher rate of comorbidities and more advanced atherosclerotic disease than outpatients. Control of hypertension of inpatients was already better on admission than in outpatients, and treatment intensity in this group was also higher during the observation period. While blood pressure lowering was substantial in both groups, there were still a high proportion of patients who did not achieve treatment goals at discharge

Keep it SMPL: Automatic Estimation of 3D Human Pose and Shape from a Single Image

We describe the first method to automatically estimate the 3D pose of the human body as well as its 3D shape from a single unconstrained image. We estimate a full 3D mesh and show that 2D joints alone carry a surprising amount of information about body shape. The problem is challenging because of the complexity of the human body, articulation, occlusion, clothing, lighting, and the inherent ambiguity in inferring 3D from 2D. To solve this, we first use a recently published CNN-based method, DeepCut, to predict (bottom-up) the 2D body joint locations. We then fit (top-down) a recently published statistical body shape model, called SMPL, to the 2D joints. We do so by minimizing an objective function that penalizes the error between the projected 3D model joints and detected 2D joints. Because SMPL captures correlations in human shape across the population, we are able to robustly fit it to very little data. We further leverage the 3D model to prevent solutions that cause interpenetration. We evaluate our method, SMPLify, on the Leeds Sports, HumanEva, and Human3.6M datasets, showing superior pose accuracy with respect to the state of the art.Comment: To appear in ECCV 201

P-576: Differential effects of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors on endothelial function in salt-induced hypertension

In view of the ongoing controversy of potential differences in cardiovascular safety of selective COX-2 inhibitors (coxibs), we compared the effects of two different coxibs and a traditional NSAID on endothelial dysfunction, a well established surrogate of cardiovascular disease, in salt-induced hypertension. Salt-sensitive (DS) and salt-resistant (DR) Dahl rats were treated with a high-sodium diet (4% NaCl) for 56 days. From days 35 to 56, diclofenac (6 mg/kg/d; DS-diclofenac), rofecoxib (2 mg/kg/d; DS-rofecoxib), celecoxib (25 mg/kg/d; DS-celecoxib) or placebo (DS-placebo) were added to the chow. Vascular reactivity of isolated aortic rings was assessed by isometric tension recording. Blood pressure increased with high sodium diet in the DS-groups which was more pronounced after diclofenac and rofecoxib treatment (p<0.005 vs DS-placebo), but slightly blunted by celecoxib (p<0.001 vs DS-placebo). Sodium diet markedly reduced NO-mediated endothelium-dependent relaxations to acetylcholine (ACh, 10−10−10−5 mol/L) in untreated hypertensive rats (p<0.0001 vs DR-placebo). Relaxation to ACh improved after celecoxib (p<0.005 vs DS-placebo and DS-rofecoxib), but remained unchanged after rofecoxib and diclofenac treatment. Vasoconstriction after NOS inhibition with Nω-Nitro-L-Arginine Methyl Ester (10-4 mol/L) was blunted in DS rats (p<0.05 vs DR-placebo), normalized by celecoxib, but not affected by rofecoxib or diclofenac. Protein expression of eNOS was decreased in DS rats with a trend for increased eNOS levels in the DS-celecoxib group (97.8±25.6 vs 54.8±2.8 %, p=0.088 vs DS-placebo). Indicators of oxidative stress, 8-isoprostane levels, were elevated in untreated DS rats on 4% NaCl (6.55±0.58 vs 3.65±1.05 ng/ml, p<0.05) and normalized by celecoxib only (4.29±0.58 ng/ml), while SOD protein expression was decreased in DS rats and not affected by any treatment. Plasma levels of prostaglandines did not change during high sodium diet or any treatment. These data show that celecoxib, but not rofecoxib or diclofenac, improves endothelial dysfunction and reduces oxidative stress, thus pointing to differential effects of coxibs in salt-sensitive hypertension. Am J Hypertens (2004) 17, 243A-243A; doi: 10.1016/j.amjhyper.2004.03.65