2,109 research outputs found
Vitamin Deficiencies Among Resettled Refugees in Buffalo, NY
Background
Vitamin deficiency in the developing world is a considerable public health issue that is often overlooked. Refugees are some of the most vulnerable populations, since they rely almost exclusively on the nutrition provided by refugee camps. Buffalo, NY resettles the fourth largest number of refugees per capita among cities in the United States (US).
Objective
We examined the prevalence of vitamin A, B2, B12, and D deficiencies among refugees who had been recently resettled to Buffalo, NY and referred to our practice for assessment. Our exploratory objective was to examine potential differences in the prevalence of vitamin deficiencies among those living in specific refugee camps.
Methods
Study Design: Retrospective chart review. Study Population: Refugees between the ages of 2 and 75 and resettled in Buffalo between December 2012 and March 2014 who were registered patients at our practice (n=250). Independent Variables: Age, gender, country of origin, country of refugee camp refugee, length of time in US prior to medical evaluation, length of time in refugee camp. Dependent Variables: % of deficiencies among vitamin A, B2, B12 and D levels. Data Analysis: Fisher Exact Test; ANOVA.
Results
There was only one reported case of vitamin A deficiency (0.45%, p=0.37) and only 6 cases of vitamin B2 deficiency (3.4%, p=0.87). Conversely, vitamin B12 and D were deficient in 37.2% (p\u3c0.0001) and 58.9% (p\u3c0.0001) of samples, respectively.
Discussion
There are concerning deficiencies noted for vitamin B12 and D levels among refugees resettled in Buffalo, NY. There was also significant variation in the prevalence of vitamin B12 and D deficiency between countries of refuge. These analyses suggest that vitamin B12 and D deficiency is a considerable issue in refugees resettled in NYS and should be addressed by local clinicians involved in the post-resettlement care of these populations
Mapping Marine Benthic Biodiversity in Wales.
The UK is committed through international agreements and European obligations to the
establishment of an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to
conserve marine ecosystems and biodiversity. The Welsh Assembly Government has committed
to using the new Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) designation provided in the Marine and
Coastal Access Act to create sites afforded a high level of protection. In addition the Marine and
Coastal Access Act allows for the establishment of a system of Marine Spatial Planning in Welsh
waters. The identification of areas of high biodiversity could be helpful for planning both
Marine Protected Areas and for Marine Spatial Planning.
Diverse communities can provide resilience to environmental perturbations (Petchey & Gaston
2009); the identification and protection of areas of high marine biodiversity can contribute to an
ecosystem-based approach to the management of our seas. Furthermore, identifying which areas
are most important for biodiversity not only yields benefits for the maintenance of ecosystem
structure and functioning but can also enable cost effective prioritisation of areas for marine
protection. The current study builds on work from previous studies at a UK-wide and regional
level (Hiscock & Breckels 2007, Langmead et al. 2008) to develop an approach for mapping
marine benthic biodiversity and apply it to Wales’ sea are
Gamma rays from dark matter annihilation in the Draco and observability at ARGO
The CACTUS experiment recently observed a gamma ray excess above 50 GeV from
the direction of the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Considering that Draco is
dark matter dominated the gamma rays may be generated through dark matter
annihilation in the Draco halo. In the framework of the minimal supersymmetric
extension of the standard model we explore the parameter space to account for
the gamma ray signals at CACTUS. We find that the neutralino mass is
constrained to be approximately in the range between 100 GeV ~ 400 GeV and a
sharp central cuspy of the dark halo profile in Draco is necessary to explain
the CACTUS results. We then discuss further constraints on the supersymmetric
parameter space by observations at the ground based ARGO detector. It is found
that the parameter space can be strongly constrained by ARGO if no excess from
Draco is observed above 100 GeV.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
Robotic First Rib Resection in Thoracic Outlet Syndrome: A Systematic Review of Current Literature
Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) involves the compression of neurovascular structures in the thoracic outlet. TOS subtypes, including neurogenic (nTOS), venous (vTOS), and arterial (aTOS) are characterized by distinct clinical presentations and diagnostic considerations. This review explores the incidence, diagnostic challenges, and management of TOS with a focus on the innovative approach of Robotic First Rib Resection (R-FRR). Traditional management of TOS includes conservative measures and surgical interventions, with various open surgical approaches carrying risks of complications. R-FRR, a minimally invasive technique, offers advantages such as improved exposure, reduced injury risk to neurovascular structures, and shorter hospital stays. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to assess the outcomes of R-FRR for TOS. Data from 12 selected studies involving 397 patients with nTOS, vTOS, and aTOS were reviewed. The results indicate that R-FRR is associated with favorable intraoperative outcomes including minimal blood loss and low conversion rates to traditional approaches. Postoperatively, patients experienced decreased pain, improved function, and low complication rates. These findings support R-FRR as a safe and effective option for medically refractory TOS
The enigmatic core L1451-mm: a first hydrostatic core? or a hidden VeLLO?
We present the detection of a dust continuum source at 3-mm (CARMA) and
1.3-mm (SMA), and 12CO(2-1) emission (SMA) towards the L1451-mm dense core.
These detections suggest a compact object and an outflow where no point source
at mid-infrared wavelengths is detected using Spitzer. An upper limit for the
dense core bolometric luminosity of 0.05 Lsun is obtained. By modeling the
broadband SED and the continuum interferometric visibilities simultaneously, we
confirm that a central source of heating is needed to explain the observations.
This modeling also shows that the data can be well fitted by a dense core with
a YSO and disk, or by a dense core with a central First Hydrostatic Core
(FHSC). Unfortunately, we are not able to decide between these two models,
which produce similar fits. We also detect 12CO(2-1) emission with red- and
blue-shifted emission suggesting the presence of a slow and poorly collimated
outflow, in opposition to what is usually found towards young stellar objects
but in agreement with prediction from simulations of a FHSC. This presents the
best candidate, so far, for a FHSC, an object that has been identified in
simulations of collapsing dense cores. Whatever the true nature of the central
object in L1451-mm, this core presents an excellent laboratory to study the
earliest phases of low-mass star formation.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, emulateapj. Accepted by Ap
The clustering of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and their sources
The sky distribution of cosmic rays with energies above the 'GZK cutoff'
holds important clues to their origin. The AGASA data, although consistent with
isotropy, shows evidence for small-angle clustering, and it has been argued
that such clusters are aligned with BL Lacertae objects, implicating these as
sources. It has also been suggested that clusters can arise if the cosmic rays
come from the decays of very massive relic particles in the Galactic halo, due
to the expected clumping of cold dark matter. We examine these claims and show
that both are in fact not justified.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, version in press at Phys. Rev.
The Structure of Episodic Memory: Ganeri's ‘Mental Time Travel and Attention’
We offer a framework for assessing what the structure of episodic memory might be, if one accepts the Buddhist denial of persisting selves. This paper is a response to Jonardon Ganeri's paper "Mental time travel and attention", which explores Buddhaghosa's ideas about memory. (It will eventually be published with a reply by Ganeri)
The Spitzer c2d Survey of Large, Nearby, Interstellar Clouds. IV. Lupus Observed with MIPS
We present maps of 7.78 square degrees of the Lupus molecular cloud complex
at 24, 70, and m. They were made with the Spitzer Space Telescope's
Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) instrument as part of the
Spitzer Legacy Program, ``From Molecular Cores to Planet-Forming Disks'' (c2d).
The maps cover three separate regions in Lupus, denoted I, III, and IV. We
discuss the c2d pipeline and how our data processing differs from it. We
compare source counts in the three regions with two other data sets and
predicted star counts from the Wainscoat model. This comparison shows the
contribution from background galaxies in Lupus I. We also create two color
magnitude diagrams using the 2MASS and MIPS data. From these results, we can
identify background galaxies and distinguish them from probable young stellar
objects. The sources in our catalogs are classified based on their spectral
energy distribution (SED) from 2MASS and Spitzer wavelengths to create a sample
of young stellar object candidates. From 2MASS data, we create extinction maps
for each region and note a strong corresponence between the extinction and the
m emission. The masses we derived in each Lupus cloud from our
extinction maps are compared to masses estimated from CO and CO
and found to be similar to our extinction masses in some regions, but
significantly different in others. Finally, based on our color-magnitude
diagrams, we selected 12 of our reddest candidate young stellar objects for
individual discussion. Five of the 12 appear to be newly-discovered YSOs.Comment: 15 pages, 17 figures, uses emulateapj.cls. Accepted for publication
in ApJ. A version with high-quality figures can be found at
http://peggysue.as.utexas.edu/SIRTF
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