Wind mapping in Venus' upper mesosphere with the IRAM-Plateau de Bure interferometer

The dynamics of the upper mesosphere of Venus (~85-115 km) have been characterized as a combination of a retrograde superrotating zonal wind (RSZ) with a subsolar-to-antisolar flow (SSAS). Numerous mm-wave single-dish observations have been obtained and could directly measure mesospheric line-of-sight winds by mapping Doppler-shifts on CO rotational lines, but their limited spatial resolution makes their interpretation difficult. By using interferometric facilities, one can obtain better resolution on Doppler-shifts maps, allowing in particular to put firmer constraints on the respective contributions of the SSAS and RSZ circulations to the global mesospheric wind field. We report on interferometric observations of the CO(1-0) line obtained with the IRAM-Plateau de Bure interferometer in November 2007 and June 2009, that could map the upper mesosphere dynamics on the morning hemisphere with a very good spatial resolution (3.5-5.5"). All the obtained measurements show, with a remarkably good temporal stability, that the wind globally flows in the (sky) East-West direction, corresponding in the observed geometry either to an unexpected prograde zonal wind or a SSAS flow. A very localized inversion of the wind direction, that could correspond to a RSZ wind, is also repeatedly detected in the night hemisphere. The presence of significant meridional winds is not evidenced. Using models with different combinations of zonal and SSAS winds, we find that the data is best reproduced by a dominant SSAS flow with a maximal velocity at the terminator of ~200 m/s, displaying large diurnal and latitudinal asymmetries, combined with an equatorial RSZ wind of 70-100 m/s, overall indicating a wind-field structure consistent with but much more complex than the usual representation of the mesospheric dynamics.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Excess mortality during heat waves in Ireland

Ireland is not known for having extreme high temperatures, with values above 30C uncommon. Ireland has significant excess winter mortality compared to summer. The objective of this study is to estimate the impact of nation-wide heat waves on the total, cardiovascular and respiratory relationship, for the period 1981–2003, to determine if there are any periods of excess summer mortality

Ayurvedic, Allopathic & Integrated Treatment of Diabetes in Northern India: Practitioner Perceptions

This study is based on a research of diabetic treatment and medical integration in Uttarakhand, North India. It explores ayurvedic, allopathic, and integrated diagnoses and treatment of diabetes with a focus on adult-onset (Type II) diabetes. Not only is India ranked second in the world in diabetes prevalence, but it is also the host of the two prevailing systems of medicine described in this study: Ayurveda and Allopathy. Considering the shortcomings of modern medicine to prevent and treat chronic illness, there has been much discourse about the value of integrating Ayurveda and Allopathy. This study seeks to answer how ayurvedic and allopathic physicians compare in their philosophies underlying the treatment of Type II diabetes, their perceptions of Ayurveda and Allopathy, and in their views of their own integrative practices as well as in the value and existence of integration. The research for this study was done in the spring of 2014. The data are derived from semi-structured interviews with eleven physicians in the cities of Dehradun, Rishikesh, and Palampur. The interpretivist and critical medical anthropology theoretical approaches serve as a guide to the methodology of this study. Findings suggest that allopathic and ayurvedic physicians have many differences in their descriptions, classifications, and treatments of Type II diabetes, as well as a few similarities. The ayurvedic and allopathic physicians of this study are well matched in their knowledge of the strengths and benefits of the other pathy. The knowledge that physicians have about the other system either prompts or discourages their ability and desire to integrate. Ayurvedic and allopathic physicians share both positive and negative views about integration. Although not all interviewed physicians support integration, many of them list particular circumstances in which it should occur. Scholarly implications of this study include a need for a closer analysis and quantification of the ways that unstructured integration is occurring. In light of the potentially harmful effects of unstructured integration and the valuable outcomes of structured integration, practical implications include a need for more dually trained physicians

Inflation and initial conditions in the pre-big bang scenario

The pre-big bang scenario describes the evolution of the Universe from an initial state approaching the flat, cold, empty, string perturbative vacuum. The choice of such an initial state is suggested by the present state of our Universe if we accept that the cosmological evolution is (at least partially) duality-symmetric. Recently, the initial conditions of the pre-big bang scenario have been criticized as they introduce large dimensionless parameters allowing the Universe to be "exponentially large from the very beginning". We agree that a set of initial parameters (such as the initial homogeneity scale, the initial entropy) larger than those determined by the initial horizon scale, H^{-1}, would be somewhat unnatural to start with. However, in the pre-big bang scenario, the initial parameters are all bounded by the size of the initial horizon. The basic question thus becomes: is a maximal homogeneity scale of order H^{-1} necessarily unnatural if the initial curvature is small and, consequently, H^{-1} is very large in Planck (or string) units? In the impossibility of experimental information one could exclude "a priori", for large horizons, the maximal homogeneity scale H^{-1} as a natural initial condition. In the pre-big bang scenario, however, pre-Planckian initial conditions are not necessarily washed out by inflation and are accessible (in principle) to observational tests, so that their naturalness could be also analyzed with a Bayesan approach, in terms of "a posteriori" probabilities.Comment: 4 pages, Latex, one figure. Many references added. The text has been improved in many points. To appear in Phys. Rev.