A Measurement of Water Vapour amid a Largely Quiescent Environment on Europa

Previous investigations proved the existence of local density enhancements in Europas atmosphere, advancing the idea of a possible origination from water plumes. These measurement strategies, however, were sensitive either to total absorption or atomic emissions, which limited the ability to assess the water content. Here we present direct searches for water vapour on Europa spanning dates from February 2016 to May 2017 with the Keck Observatory. Our global survey at infrared wavelengths resulted in non-detections on 16 out of 17 dates, with upper limits below the water abundances inferred from previous estimates. On one date (26 April 2016) we measured 2,095 658 tonnes of water vapour at Europas leading hemisphere. We suggest that the outgassing ls than previously estimated, with only rare localized events of stronger activity

Feasibility of chest ultrasound up to 42 m underwater

After recent advancements, ultrasound has extended its applications from bedside clinical practice to wilderness medicine. Performing ultrasound scans in extreme environments can allow direct visualization of unique pathophysiological adaptations but can be technically challenging. This paper summarizes how a portable ultrasound apparatus was marinized to let scientific divers and sonographers perform ultrasound scans of the lungs underwater up to − 42 m. A metallic case protected the ultrasound apparatus inside; a frontal transparent panel with a glove allowed visualization and operation of the ultrasound by the diving sonographer. The inner pressure was equalized with environmental pressure through a compressed air tank connected with circuits similar to those used in SCUBA diving. Finally, the ultrasound probe exited the metallic case through a sealed aperture. No technical issues were reported after the first testing step and the real experiments

Virial series for inhomogeneous fluids applied to the Lennard-Jones wall-fluid surface tension at planar and curved walls

We formulate a straightforward scheme of statistical mechanics for inhomogeneous systems that includes the virial series in powers of the activity for the grand free energy and density distributions. There, cluster integrals formulated for inhomogeneous systems play a main role. We center on second order terms that were analyzed in the case of hard-wall confinement, focusing in planar, spherical and cylindrical walls. Further analysis was devoted to the Lennard-Jones system and its generalization the 2k-k potential. For this interaction potentials the second cluster integral was evaluated analytically. We obtained the fluid-substrate surface tension at second order for the planar, spherical and cylindrical confinement. Spherical and cylindrical cases were analyzed using a series expansion in the radius including higher order terms. We detected a $\ln R^{-1}/R^{2}$ dependence of the surface tension for the standard Lennard-Jones system confined by spherical and cylindrical walls, no matter if particles are inside or outside of the hard-walls. The analysis was extended to bending and Gaussian curvatures, where exact expressions were also obtained.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Rare earth oxides in zirconium dioxide: How to turn a wide band gap metal oxide into a visible light active photocatalyst

In the present study, we investigated the effect of cerium and erbium doping of the zirconium dioxide matrix. We synthesized doped samples using hydrothermal process. The amounts of dopant used were 0.5%, 1% and 5% molar (rare earth oxide over zirconium dioxide) respectively. The samples have been studied via X-ray Diffraction measurements for the structural characterization. UV visible diffuse reflectance was used for the optical analysis, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) model for the measurement of the surface area. Finally the samples have been analysed via electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) for the electronic characterization. Then we tested the new synthetized materials to determine their photo catalytic activity in the reaction of degradation of methylene blue performed under irradiation by diodes (LEDs) emitting exclusively visible light. (C) 2016 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved

Chronic Kidney Disease Increases Cerebral Microbleeds in Mouse and Man.

Brain microbleeds are increased in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and their presence increases risk of cognitive decline and stroke. We examined the interaction between CKD and brain microhemorrhages (the neuropathological substrate of microbleeds) in mouse and cell culture models and studied progression of microbleed burden on serial brain imaging from humans. Mouse studies: Two CKD models were investigated: adenine-induced tubulointerstitial nephritis and surgical 5/6 nephrectomy. Cell culture studies: bEnd.3 mouse brain endothelial cells were grown to confluence, and monolayer integrity was measured after exposure to 5-15% human uremic serum or increasing concentrations of urea. Human studies: Progression of brain microbleeds was evaluated on serial MRI from control, pre-dialysis CKD, and dialysis patients. Microhemorrhages were increased 2-2.5-fold in mice with CKD independent of higher blood pressure in the 5/6 nephrectomy model. IgG staining was increased in CKD animals, consistent with increased blood-brain barrier permeability. Incubation of bEnd.3 cells with uremic serum or elevated urea produced a dose-dependent drop in trans-endothelial electrical resistance. Elevated urea induced actin cytoskeleton derangements and decreased claudin-5 expression. In human subjects, prevalence of microbleeds was 50% in both CKD cohorts compared with 10% in age-matched controls. More patients in the dialysis cohort had increased microbleeds on follow-up MRI after 1.5 years. CKD disrupts the blood-brain barrier and increases brain microhemorrhages in mice and microbleeds in humans. Elevated urea alters the actin cytoskeleton and tight junction proteins in cultured endothelial cells, suggesting that these mechanisms explain (at least in part) the microhemorrhages and microbleeds observed in the animal and human studies

Histone Deacetylase and Microtubules as Targets for the Synthesis of Releasable Conjugate Compounds

Design and synthesis of an HDAC inhibitor and its merger with three tubulin binders to create releasable conjugate compounds is described. The biological evaluation includes: a) in vitro reactivity with glutathione, b) antiproliferative activity, c) cell cycle analysis and d) quantification of protein acetylation. The cellular pharmacology study indicated that the HDAC-inhibitor-drug conjugates retained antimitotic and proapoptotic activity with a reduced potenc

Is transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy for pheochromocytoma really more challenging? A propensity score-matched analysis

Purpose Minimally invasive surgery is the gold standard treatment for adrenal masses, but it may be a challenging procedure in the case of pheochromocytoma (PHEO). The aim of the present study is to report the results of transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy (TLA) in cases of PHEO in comparison to other types of adrenal lesions. Methods From 1994 to 2021, 629 patients underwent adrenalectomy. Twenty-two and thirty-five patients, respectively, were excluded because they underwent bilateral and open adrenalectomy, leaving 572 patients for inclusion. Of these, 114 patients had PHEO (Group A), and 458 had other types of lesions (Group B). To adjust for potential baseline confounders, a propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was conducted. Results After PSM, 114 matched pairs of patients were identified from each group. Statistically significant differences were not observed when comparing the median operative time (85 and 90 min in Groups A and B, respectively, p = 0.627), conversion rate [6 (5.3%) in each group, p = 1.000], transfusion rate [4 (3.5%) and 3 (2.6%) in Groups A and B, respectively, p = 1.000], complication rate [7 (6.1%) and 9 (7.9%) in Groups A and B, respectively, p = 0.796), median postoperative hospital stay (3.9 and 3.6 days in Groups A and B, respectively, p = 0.110), and mortality rate [1 (0.9%) in each group, p = 1.000]. Conclusions Based on this analysis, the results of TLA for PHEO are equivalent to those of TLA for other types of adrenal lesions, but the fundamental requirements are multidisciplinary patient management and adequate surgeon experience. Further prospective studies are required to draw definitive conclusions