Recent Climatological Research in Labrador Ungava

La climatologie de la péninsule Labrador-Ungava vient de nous apparaître dans une nouvelle perspective grâce à des recherches récentes sur le bilan calorifique et hygrométrique à la surface du sol ainsi que sur les divers types de courants atmosphériques en rapport avec les conditions météorologiques locales.Le bilan énergétique du Labrador-Ungava, bien que typique de ces latitudes, témoigne de températures beaucoup plus basses que celles que Von rencontre habituellement dans des régions semblables. Au cours de l’été, on a observé un rayonnement net quotidien de 0.258k cal/cm 2 en moyenne. Durant la saison végétative, l'évapotranspiration utilise à peine 40% du rayonnement net ; ceci permet de penser qu'une part considérable de l'énergie disponible peut être utilisée dans les mouvements convectifs de réchauffement. Ainsi s'expliquerait le développement si répandu de cumulus typiques de l'ensemble de la région en été. On est moins renseigné sur le bilan hygrométrique. Les précipitations sont abondantes et au cours de la période de fonte des neiges, en mai et en juin, le ruissellement est considérable. Il semble probable que le déficit total en eau est de loin inférieur a celui des bassins forestiers situés plus au sud. On n'a guère étudié la climatologie synoptique de l’ Ungava-Labrador, mais l'auteur fait mention des rapports qui auraient pu exister entre les courants atmosphériques et l'accumulation de la neige pendant la dernière glaciation

The Atmospheric Circulation and Arctic Meteorology

Reviews advances since 1954 in knowledge of tropospheric and stratospheric circulations: in the former, the nature, distribution and effects of an arctic jet stream and arctic front; and in the stratosphere and mesosphere, the startling discovery of a powerful stratospheric ridge over or west of Alaska (No 63579), which deforms the stratospheric polar-night westerlies up to at least 55 km

Can smartphone wireless ECGs be used to accurately assess ECG intervals in pediatrics? A comparison of mobile health monitoring to standard 12-lead ECG

BACKGROUND:Arrhythmias in children are often paroxysmal, complicating the ability to capture the abnormal rhythm on routine ECG during an outpatient visit. The Alivecor Kardia Mobile (KM) device is a wireless mobile health (mHealth) device that generates a single lead ECG tracing with a FDA-approved algorithm for detection of atrial fibrillation in adults. OBJECTIVE:The goal of this study is to assess the accuracy of interval measurements on KM tracings by directly comparing to standard 12-lead ECGs in pediatric patients. METHODS:This single center, prospective study enrolled pediatric outpatients, age 20ms with 4/9 (44%) having a conduction disorder and 2/9 (22%) having marked sinus arrhythmia. Bland-Altman method of agreement demonstrated strong agreement for QRSd and QTc. The AF algorithm reported 4/30 (13%) false positive "possible AF" diagnoses (rhythm over-read on KM demonstrated n = 3 marked sinus arrhythmia, n = 1 sinus rhythm with aberrated PACs) resulting in a specificity of 87%. CONCLUSION:The Alivecor Kardia device produces accurate single lead ECG tracings in both healthy children and children with cardiac disease or rhythm abnormalities across the pediatric spectrum. This mHealth application provides an accurate, non-invasive, real-time approach for ambulatory ECG monitoring in children and adolescents

Dissociating the Role of the Orbitofrontal Cortex and the Striatum in the Computation of Goal Values and Prediction Errors

To make sound economic decisions, the brain needs to compute several different value-related signals. These include goal values that measure the predicted reward that results from the outcome generated by each of the actions under consideration, decision values that measure the net value of taking the different actions, and prediction errors that measure deviations from individuals' previous reward expectations. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a novel decision-making paradigm to dissociate the neural basis of these three computations. Our results show that they are supported by different neural substrates: goal values are correlated with activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex, decision values are correlated with activity in the central orbitofrontal cortex, and prediction errors are correlated with activity in the ventral striatum

Cardiac Depression Scale: Mokken scaling in heart failure patients

Background: There is a high prevalence of depression in patients with heart failure (HF) that is associated with worsening prognosis. The value of using a reliable and valid instrument to measure depression in this population is therefore essential. We validated the Cardiac Depression Scale (CDS) in heart failure patients using a model of ordinal unidimensional measurement known as Mokken scaling. Findings: We administered in face-to-face interviews the CDS to 603 patients with HF. Data were analysed using Mokken scale analysis. Items of the CDS formed a statistically significant unidimensional Mokken scale of low strength (H<0.40) and high reliability (Rho>0.8). Conclusions: The CDS has a hierarchy of items which can be interpreted in terms of the increasingly serious effects of depression occurring as a result of HF. Identifying an appropriate instrument to measure depression in patients with HF allows for early identification and better medical management. Keywords: Cardiac Depression Scale, Heart failure, Depression, Mokken scalin