Spectroscopy of D-type asteroids

We have performed a spectroscopic survey of 19 D-type asteroids. Comparison with previous photometry shows excellent agreement. Although the majority have similar colors to cometary nuclei, no cometary emission bands were present in any of the spectra. Absorption bands sporadically appearing were apparently due to stellar objects, and no features inherent to the asteroids were observed

On Reconfigurable On-Chip Data Caches

Abstract Cache memory has shown to be the most important technique to bridge the gap between the processor speed and the memory access time. The advent of high-speed RISC and superscalar processors, however, calls for small on-chip data caches. Due to physical limitations, these should be simply designed and yet yield good performance. In this paper, we present new cache architectures that address the problems of conflict misses and non-optimal line sizes in the context of direct-mapped caches. Our cache architectures can be reconfigured by software in a way that matches the reference pattern for array data structures. We show that the implementation cost of the reconfiguration capability is neglectable. We also show simulation results !M demons tratc sign i fican t performance improvements for both methods

Philosophy and updating of the asteroid photometric catalogue

The Asteroid Photometric Catalogue now contains photometric lightcurves for 584 asteroids. We discuss some of the guiding principles behind it. This concerns both observers who offer input to it and users of the product

Intensive longitudinal study of newly graduated nurses’ quick returns and self-rated stress

OBJECTIVE: Little is known about the relationship between quick returns (QR) – shift combinations that result in inter-shift rest periods <11 hours) and stress. The current study examined whether variations in the frequency of QR, both between and within individuals, were associated with changes in self-rated stress. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent weekly to newly graduated nurses during the first 12 weeks of work. Stress was measured with four items from the Stress-Energy Questionnaire on a scale from 1 “not at all” to 5 “very much” [mean 2.65, standard deviation (SD) 1.08]. Shifts worked in the past week were reported and QR were identified by evening-morning shift combinations (mean 0.98, SD 0.90 per week). In total, 350 persons were included in the analysis (3556 observations). Data were analyzed with a multilevel residual dynamic structural equation model (RDSEM) using Bayesian estimation procedures. RESULTS: There was no between-person effect of QR on stress averaged across measurement occasions (0.181, 95% CI -0.060–0.415). However, there was a small within-person effect of QR (0.031, 95% CI 0.001–0.062), meaning that more QR during a given week, compared to that person’s average, was associated with an increase in their level of stress during that week. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses were likely to report increased stress during weeks in which they worked more QR. Intervention studies are needed to determine whether the relationship is causal

Diet and lifestyle of the Sami of southern Lapland in the 1930s-1950s and today

To describe the lifestyle of the Sami of southern Lapland 50 to 70 years ago in relation to the present-day Sami and non-Sami populations and, thereby, to provide a basis for future studies of culturally related determinants of health and illness. A qualitative analysis, and a quantitative comparison of Sami and non-Sami groups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 elderly Sami concerning their parents’ lifestyle and diet 50 to 70 years ago. Questionnaire data from 81 reindeer-herding Sami, 226 non-reindeer-herding Sami and 1,842 sex-, age- and geographically matched non-Sami from the population-based Västerbotten Intervention Project were analysed by non-parametric tests and partial least squares methodology. Surprisingly, fatty fish may have been more important than reindeer meat for the Sami of southern Lapland in the 1930s to 1950s, and it is still consumed more frequently by reindeer-herding Sami than nonreindeer-herding Sami and non-Sami. Other dietary characteristics of the historical Sami and present-day reindeer-herding Sami were higher intakes of fat, blood and boiled coffee, and lower intakes of bread, fibre and cultivated vegetables, compared with present-day non-Sami. Physical activity was also a part of the daily life of the Sami to a greater extent in the 1930s to 1950s than today. Sami men often worked far from home, while the women were responsible for fishing, farming, gardening (which was introduced in the 1930–1950 period), as well as housework and childcare. For studies investigating characteristic lifestyle elements of specific ethnic groups, the elements of greatest acknowledged cultural importance today (in this case reindeer meat) may not be of the most objective importance traditionally

Skogsdata 2022. Tema: Den formellt skyddade skogen

SLU Riksskogstaxeringen samlar årligen in data i skog och mark i Sverige som underlag för Sveriges officiella statistik om ”Skogarnas tillstånd och förändring”. Riksskogstaxeringen påbörjades redan 1923 och har sedan dess utvecklats såväl avseende vilka geografiska områden som ingår i inventeringen, som vad som inventeras. Från och med år 2003 inkluderades formellt skyddade områden inom nationalparker och naturreservat i fältinventeringen och från och med 2016 även de delar av fjällområdet som kan förväntas innehålla trädvegetation. Genom att utnyttja Naturvårdsverkets digitala georefererade information om gränser för formellt skyddade områden kan vi nu beskriva karaktärer och egenskaper för Sveriges formellt skyddade skogsmark. SCB publicerar årligen officiell statistik avseende arealer formellt skyddad skog i Sverige (SCB 2021). I detta temanummer fokuserar vi därför på att beskriva hur dessa arealer fördelas på olika egenskaper samt kvantifierar och beskriver egenskaper för virkesförråd, tillväxt och naturlig avgång. Vi jämför även tillstånd och egenskaper för skog inom formellt skyddade områden med övrig skog

Prevention of Rat Intestinal Injury with a Drug Combination of Melatonin and Misoprostol

A healthy intestinal barrier prevents uptake of allergens and toxins, whereas intestinal permeability increases following chemotherapy and in many gastrointestinal and systemic diseases and disorders. Currently, there are no approved drugs that target and repair the intestinal epithelial barrier while there is a medical need for such treatment in gastrointestinal and related conditions. The objective of this single-pass intestinal perfusion study in rats was to investigate the preventive cytoprotective effect of three mucosal protective drugs¿melatonin, misoprostol, and teduglutide¿with different mechanisms of action on an acute jejunal injury induced by exposing the intestine for 15 min to the anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The effect was evaluated by monitoring intestinal clearance of 51Cr-labeled ethylenediaminetetraacetate and intestinal histology before, during, and after luminal exposure to SDS. Our results showed that separate pharmacological pretreatments with luminal misoprostol and melatonin reduced acute SDS-induced intestinal injury by 47% and 58%, respectively, while their use in combination abolished this injury. This data supports further development of drug combinations for oral treatments of conditions and disorders related to a dysregulated or compromised mucosal epithelial barrier

Phagocytosis of Streptococcus pyogenes by all-trans retinoic acid-differentiated HL-60 cells: roles of azurophilic granules and NADPH oxidase.

BACKGROUND: New experimental approaches to the study of the neutrophil phagosome and bacterial killing prompted a reassessment of the usefulness of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)-differentiated HL-60 cells as a neutrophil model. HL-60 cells are special in that they possess azurophilic granules while lacking the specific granules with their associated oxidase components. The resulting inability to mount an effective intracellular respiratory burst makes these cells more dependent on other mechanisms when killing internalized bacteria. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this work phagocytosis and phagosome-related responses of ATRA-differentiated HL-60 cells were compared to those earlier described in human neutrophils. We show that intracellular survival of wild-type S. pyogenes bacteria in HL-60 cells is accompanied by inhibition of azurophilic granule-phagosome fusion. A mutant S. pyogenes bacterium, deficient in M-protein expression, is, on the other hand, rapidly killed in phagosomes that avidly fuse with azurophilic granules. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The current data extend our previous findings by showing that a system lacking in oxidase involvement also indicates a link between inhibition of azurophilic granule fusion and the intraphagosomal fate of S. pyogenes bacteria. We propose that differentiated HL-60 cells can be a useful tool to study certain aspects of neutrophil phagosome maturation, such as azurophilic granule fusion