Comorbid conditions explain the association between posttraumatic stress disorder and incident cardiovascular disease

Background Posttraumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ) is associated with risk of cardiovascular disease ( CVD ). Biopsychosocial factors associated with PTSD likely account for some or all of this association. We determined whether 1, or a combination of comorbid conditions explained the association between PTSD and incident CVD . Methods and Results Eligible patients used 1 of 5 Veterans Health Affairs medical centers distributed across the United States. Data were obtained from electronic health records. At index date, 2519 Veterans Health Affairs ( VA ) patients, 30 to 70 years of age, had PTSD diagnoses and 1659 did not. Patients had no CVD diagnoses for 12 months before index date. Patients could enter the cohort between 2008 and 2012 with follow-up until 2015. Age-adjusted Cox proportional hazard models were computed before and after adjusting for comorbidities. Patients were middle aged (mean=50.1 years, SD ±11.0), mostly male (87.0%), and 60% were white. The age-adjusted association between PTSD and incident CVD was significant (hazard ratio=1.41; 95% CI : 1.21-1.63). After adjustment for metabolic conditions, the association between PTSD and incident CVD was attenuated but remained significant (hazard ratio=1.23; 95% CI : 1.06-1.44). After additional adjustment for smoking, sleep disorder, substance use disorder, anxiety disorders, and depression, PTSD was not associated with incident CVD (hazard ratio=0.96; 95% CI : 0.81-1.15). Conclusions PTSD is not an independent risk factor for CVD . Physical and psychiatric conditions and smoking that co-occur with PTSD explain why this patient population has an increased risk of CVD . Careful monitoring may limit exposure to CVD risk factors and subsequent incident CVD

One- and two-particle microrheology

We study the dynamics of rigid spheres embedded in viscoelastic media and address two questions of importance to microrheology. First we calculate the complete response to an external force of a single bead in a homogeneous elastic network viscously coupled to an incompressible fluid. From this response function we find the frequency range where the standard assumptions of microrheology are valid. Second we study fluctuations when embedded spheres perturb the media around them and show that mutual fluctuations of two separated spheres provide a more accurate determination of the complex shear modulus than do the fluctuations of a single sphere.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Stellar science from a blue wavelength range - A possible design for the blue arm of 4MOST

From stellar spectra, a variety of physical properties of stars can be derived. In particular, the chemical composition of stellar atmospheres can be inferred from absorption line analyses. These provide key information on large scales, such as the formation of our Galaxy, down to the small-scale nucleosynthesis processes that take place in stars and supernovae. By extending the observed wavelength range toward bluer wavelengths, we optimize such studies to also include critical absorption lines in metal-poor stars, and allow for studies of heavy elements (Z>38) whose formation processes remain poorly constrained. In this context, spectrographs optimized for observing blue wavelength ranges are essential, since many absorption lines at redder wavelengths are too weak to be detected in metal-poor stars. This means that some elements cannot be studied in the visual-redder regions, and important scientific tracers and science cases are lost. The present era of large public surveys will target millions of stars. Here we describe the requirements driving the design of the forthcoming survey instrument 4MOST, a multi-object spectrograph commissioned for the ESO VISTA 4m-telescope. We focus here on high-density, wide-area survey of stars and the science that can be achieved with high-resolution stellar spectroscopy. Scientific and technical requirements that governed the design are described along with a thorough line blending analysis. For the high-resolution spectrograph, we find that a sampling of >2.5 (pixels per resolving element), spectral resolution of 18000 or higher, and a wavelength range covering 393-436 nm, is the most well-balanced solution for the instrument. A spectrograph with these characteristics will enable accurate abundance analysis (+/-0.1 dex) in the blue and allow us to confront the outlined scientific questions. (abridged)Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A

Molecular Epidemiology of Adenovirus Type 7 in the United States, 1966–20001

Genetic variation among 166 isolates of human adenovirus 7 (Ad7) obtained from 1966 to 2000 from the United States and Eastern Ontario, Canada, was determined by genome restriction analysis. Most (65%) isolates were identified as Ad7b. Two genome types previously undocumented in North America were also identified: Ad7d2 (28%), which first appeared in 1993 and was later identified throughout the Midwest and Northeast of the United States and in Canada; and Ad7h (2%), which was identified only in the U.S. Southwest in 1998 and 2000. Since 1996, Ad7d2 has been responsible for several civilian outbreaks of Ad7 disease and was the primary cause of a large outbreak of respiratory illness at a military recruit training center. The appearance of Ad7d2 and Ad7h in North America represents recent introduction of these viruses from previously geographically restricted areas and may herald a shift in predominant genome type circulating in the United States

Dynamics of viscoelastic membranes

We determine both the in-plane and out-of-plane dynamics of viscoelastic membranes separating two viscous fluids in order to understand microrheological studies of such membranes. We demonstrate the general viscoelastic signatures in the dynamics of shear, bending, and compression modes. We also find a screening of the otherwise two-dimensional character of the response to point forces due to the presence of solvent. Finally, we show that there is a linear, hydrodynamic coupling between the in-plane compression modes of the membrane and the out-of-plane bending modes in the case where the membrane separates two different fluids or environments

Posttraumatic stress disorder and type 2 diabetes outcomes in veterans

IMPORTANCE: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom reduction is linked with lower risk of incident type 2 diabetes (T2D), but little is known about the association between PTSD and comorbid T2D outcomes. Whether PTSD is a modifiable risk factor for adverse T2D outcomes is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether patients with PTSD who improved and no longer met diagnostic criteria for PTSD had a lower risk of adverse T2D outcomes compared with patients with persistent PTSD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This retrospective cohort study used deidentified data from US Veterans Health Administration (VHA) historical medical records (from October 1, 2011, to September 30, 2022) to create a cohort of patients aged 18 to 80 years with comorbid PTSD and T2D. Data analysis was performed from March 1 to June 1, 2024. EXPOSURES: Diagnoses of PTSD and T2D. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The main outcomes were insulin initiation, poor glycemic control, any microvascular complication, and all-cause mortality. Improvement of PTSD was defined as no longer meeting PTSD diagnostic criteria, per a PTSD Checklist score of less than 33. Entropy balancing controlled for confounding. Survival and competing risk models estimated the association between meeting PTSD criteria and T2D outcomes. Subgroup analyses examined variation by age, sex, race, PTSD severity, and comorbid depression status. RESULTS: The study cohort included 10 002 veterans. More than half of patients (65.3%) were aged older than 50 years and most (87.2%) were men. Patients identified as Black (31.6%), White (62.7%), or other race (5.7%). Before controlling for confounding with entropy balancing, patients who no longer met PTSD diagnostic criteria had similar incidence rates for starting insulin (22.4 vs 24.4 per 1000 person-years), poor glycemic control (137.1 vs 133.7 per 1000 person-years), any microvascular complication (108.4 vs 104.8 per 1000 person-years), and all-cause mortality (11.2 vs 11.0 per 1000 person-years) compared with patients with persistent PTSD. After controlling for confounding, no longer meeting PTSD criteria was associated with a lower risk of microvascular complications (hazard ratio [HR], 0.92 [95% CI, 0.85-0.99]). Among veterans aged 18 to 49 years, no longer meeting PTSD criteria was associated with a lower risk of insulin initiation (HR, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.53-0.88]) and all-cause mortality (HR, 0.39 [95% CI, 0.19-0.83]). Among patients without depression, no longer meeting PTSD criteria was associated with a lower risk of insulin initiation (HR, 0.73 [95% CI, 0.55-0.97]). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The findings of this cohort study of patients with comorbid PTSD and T2D suggest that PTSD is a modifiable risk factor associated with a modest reduction in microvascular complications. Further research is needed to determine whether findings are similar in non-VHA health care settings

A new algorithm for optimizing the wavelength coverage for spectroscopic studies:Spectral Wavelength Optimization Code (swoc)

The past decade and a half has seen the design and execution of several ground-based spectroscopic surveys, both Galactic and Extra-galactic. Additionally, new surveys are being designed that extend the boundaries of current surveys. In this context, many important considerations must be done when designing a spectrograph for the future. Among these is the determination of the optimum wavelength coverage. In this work, we present a new code for determining the wavelength ranges that provide the optimal amount of information to achieve the required science goals for a given survey. In its first mode, it utilizes a user-defined list of spectral features to compute a figure-of-merit for different spectral configurations. The second mode utilizes a set of flux-calibrated spectra, determining the spectral regions that show the largest differences among the spectra. Our algorithm is easily adaptable for any set of science requirements and any spectrograph design. We apply the algorithm to several examples, including 4MOST, showing the method yields important design constraints to the wavelength regions