Post-AGB Stars in Globular Clusters and Galactic Halos

We discuss three aspects of post-AGB (PAGB) stars in old populations. (1) HST photometry of the nucleus of the planetary nebula (PN) K 648 in the globular cluster (GC) M15 implies a mass of 0.60 Msun, in contrast to the mean masses of white dwarfs in GCs of ~0.5 Msun. This suggests that K 648 is descended from a merged binary, and we infer that single Pop II stars do not produce visible PNe. (2) Yellow PAGB stars are the visually brightest stars in old populations (Mv ~ -3.3) and are easily recognizable because of their large Balmer jumps; thus they show great promise as a Pop II standard candle. Two yellow PAGB stars in the GC NGC 5986 have the same V magnitudes to within +/-0.05 mag, supporting an expected narrow luminosity function. (3) Using CCD photometry and a u filter lying below the Balmer jump, we have detected yellow PAGB stars in the halo of M31 and in its dwarf elliptical companion NGC 205. With the Milky Way zero point, we reproduce the Cepheid distance to M31, and find that NGC 205 is ~100 kpc further away than M31. The star counts imply a yellow PAGB lifetime of about 25,000 yr, and their luminosities imply masses near 0.53 Msun.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. To appear in proceedings of Torun, Poland, workshop on "Post-AGB Objects (Proto-Planetary Nebulae) as a Phase of Stellar Evolution," ed. S.K. Gorn

The Peripheral Arterial disease study (PERART/ARTPER): prevalence and risk factors in the general population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The early diagnosis of atherosclerotic disease is essential for developing preventive strategies in populations at high risk and acting when the disease is still asymptomatic. A low ankle-arm index is a good marker of vascular events and may be diminished without presenting symptomatology (silent peripheral arterial disease). The aim of the study is to know the prevalence and associated risk factors of peripheral arterial disease in the general population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a cross-sectional, multicentre, population-based study in 3786 individuals >49 years, randomly selected in 28 primary care centres in Barcelona (Spain). Peripheral arterial disease was evaluated using the ankle-arm index. Values < 0.9 were considered as peripheral arterial disease.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence (95% confidence interval) of peripheral arterial disease was 7.6% (6.7-8.4), (males 10.2% (9.2-11.2), females 5.3% (4.6-6.0); <it>p </it>< 0.001).</p> <p>Multivariate analysis showed the following risk factors: male sex [odds ratio (OR) 1.62; 95% confidence interval 1.01-2.59]; age OR 2.00 per 10 years (1.64-2.44); inability to perform physical activity [OR 1.77 (1.17-2.68) for mild limitation to OR 7.08 (2.61-19.16) for breathless performing any activity]; smoking [OR 2.19 (1.34-3.58) for former smokers and OR 3.83 (2.23-6.58) for current smokers]; hypertension OR 1.85 (1.29-2.65); diabetes OR 2.01 (1.42-2.83); previous cardiovascular disease OR 2.19 (1.52-3.15); hypercholesterolemia OR 1.55 (1.11-2.18); hypertriglyceridemia OR 1.55 (1.10-2.19). Body mass index ≥25 Kg/m²OR 0.57 (0.38-0.87) and walking >7 hours/week OR 0.67 (0.49-0.94) were found as protector factors.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The prevalence of peripheral arterial disease is low, higher in males and increases with age in both sexes. In addition to previously described risk factors we found a protector effect in physical exercise and overweight.</p

Peripheral artery disease assessed by ankle-brachial index in patients with established cardiovascular disease or at least one risk factor for atherothrombosis - CAREFUL Study: A national, multi-center, cross-sectional observational study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate the presence of peripheral artery disease (PAD) via the ankle brachial index (ABI) in patients with known cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular diseases or with at least one risk factor for atherothrombosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients with a history of atherothrombotic events, or aged 50-69 years with at least one cardiovascular risk factor, or > = 70 years of age were included in this multicenter, cross-sectional, non-interventional study (DIREGL04074). Demographics, medical history, physical examination findings, and physician awareness of PAD were analyzed. The number of patients with low ABI (< = 0.90) was analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 530 patients (mean age, 63.4 ± 8.7 years; 50.2% female) were enrolled. Hypertension and dyslipidemia were present in 88.7% and 65.5% of patients, respectively. PAD-related symptoms were evident in about one-third of the patients, and at least one of the pedal pulses was negative in 6.5% of patients. The frequency of low ABI was 20.0% in the whole study population and 30% for patients older than 70 years. Older age, greater number of total risk factors, and presence of PAD-related physical findings were associated with increased likelihood of low ABI (<it>p </it>< 0.001). There was no gender difference in the prevalence of low ABI, PAD symptoms, or total number of risk factors. Exercise (33.6%) was the most common non-pharmacological option recommended by physicians, and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) (45.4%) was the most frequently prescribed medication for PAD.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results indicate that advanced age, greater number of total risk factors and presence of PAD-related physical findings were associated with increased likelihood of low ABI. These findings are similar to those reported in similar studies of different populations, and document a fairly high prevalence of PAD in a Mediterranean country.</p

Topologically Protected Quantum State Transfer in a Chiral Spin Liquid

Topology plays a central role in ensuring the robustness of a wide variety of physical phenomena. Notable examples range from the robust current carrying edge states associated with the quantum Hall and the quantum spin Hall effects to proposals involving topologically protected quantum memory and quantum logic operations. Here, we propose and analyze a topologically protected channel for the transfer of quantum states between remote quantum nodes. In our approach, state transfer is mediated by the edge mode of a chiral spin liquid. We demonstrate that the proposed method is intrinsically robust to realistic imperfections associated with disorder and decoherence. Possible experimental implementations and applications to the detection and characterization of spin liquid phases are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure

Defecting or not defecting: how to "read" human behavior during cooperative games by EEG measurements

Understanding the neural mechanisms responsible for human social interactions is difficult, since the brain activities of two or more individuals have to be examined simultaneously and correlated with the observed social patterns. We introduce the concept of hyper-brain network, a connectivity pattern representing at once the information flow among the cortical regions of a single brain as well as the relations among the areas of two distinct brains. Graph analysis of hyper-brain networks constructed from the EEG scanning of 26 couples of individuals playing the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma reveals the possibility to predict non-cooperative interactions during the decision-making phase. The hyper-brain networks of two-defector couples have significantly less inter-brain links and overall higher modularity - i.e. the tendency to form two separate subgraphs - than couples playing cooperative or tit-for-tat strategies. The decision to defect can be "read" in advance by evaluating the changes of connectivity pattern in the hyper-brain network

Effect of maternal Schistosoma mansoni infection and praziquantel treatment during pregnancy on Schistosoma mansoni infection and immune responsiveness among offspring at age five years.

INTRODUCTION: Offspring of Schistosoma mansoni-infected women in schistosomiasis-endemic areas may be sensitised in-utero. This may influence their immune responsiveness to schistosome infection and schistosomiasis-associated morbidity. Effects of praziquantel treatment of S. mansoni during pregnancy on risk of S. mansoni infection among offspring, and on their immune responsiveness when they become exposed to S. mansoni, are unknown. Here we examined effects of praziquantel treatment of S. mansoni during pregnancy on prevalence of S. mansoni and immune responsiveness among offspring at age five years. METHODS: In a trial in Uganda (ISRCTN32849447, http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN32849447/elliott), offspring of women treated with praziquantel or placebo during pregnancy were examined for S. mansoni infection and for cytokine and antibody responses to SWA and SEA, as well as for T cell expression of FoxP3, at age five years. RESULTS: Of the 1343 children examined, 32 (2.4%) had S. mansoni infection at age five years based on a single stool sample. Infection prevalence did not differ between children of treated or untreated mothers. Cytokine (IFNγ, IL-5, IL-10 and IL-13) and antibody (IgG1, Ig4 and IgE) responses to SWA and SEA, and FoxP3 expression, were higher among infected than uninfected children. Praziquantel treatment of S. mansoni during pregnancy had no effect on immune responses, with the exception of IL-10 responses to SWA, which was higher in offspring of women that received praziquantel during pregnancy than those who did not. CONCLUSION: We found no evidence that maternal S. mansoni infection and its treatment during pregnancy influence prevalence and intensity of S. mansoni infection or effector immune response to S. mansoni infection among offspring at age five years, but the observed effects on IL-10 responses to SWA suggest that maternal S. mansoni and its treatment during pregnancy may affect immunoregulatory responsiveness in childhood schistosomiasis. This might have implications for pathogenesis of the disease

Bulk properties of the system formed in Au+Au collisions at sNN =14.5 GeV at the BNL STAR detector

We report systematic measurements of bulk properties of the system created in Au+Au collisions at sNN=14.5 GeV recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The transverse momentum spectra of π±, K±, and p(p) are studied at midrapidity (|y|&lt;0.1) for nine centrality intervals. The centrality, transverse momentum (pT), and pseudorapidity (η) dependence of inclusive charged particle elliptic flow (v2), and rapidity-odd charged particles directed flow (v1) results near midrapidity are also presented. These measurements are compared with the published results from Au+Au collisions at other energies, and from Pb+Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV. The results at sNN=14.5 GeV show similar behavior as established at other energies and fit well in the energy dependence trend. These results are important as the 14.5-GeV energy fills the gap in μB, which is of the order of 100 MeV, between sNN=11.5 and 19.6 GeV. Comparisons of the data with UrQMD and AMPT models show poor agreement in general

A new efficient trial design for assessing reliability of ankle-brachial index measures by three different observer groups

BACKGROUND: The usual method of assessing the variability of a measure such as the ankle brachial index (ABI) as a function of different observer groups is to obtain repeated measurements. Because the number of possible observer-subject combinations is impractically large, only a few small studies on inter- and intraobserver variability of ABI measures have been carried out to date. The present study proposes a new and efficient study design. This paper describes the study methodology. METHODS: Using a partially balanced incomplete block design, six angiologists, six primary-care physicians and six trained medical office assistants performed two ABI measurements each on six individuals from a group of 36 unselected subjects aged 65–70 years. Each test subject is measured by one observer from each of the three observer groups, and each observer measures exactly six of the 36 subjects in the group. Each possible combination of two observers occurs exactly once per patient and is not repeated on a second subject. The study involved four groups of 36 subjects (144), plus standbys. RESULTS: The 192 volunteers present at the study day were similar in terms of demographic characteristics and vascular risk factors: mean age 68.6 ± 1.7; mean BMI 29.1 ± 4.6; mean waist-hip ratio 0.92 ± 0.09; active smokers 12%; hypertension 60.9%; hypercholesterolemia 53.4%; diabetic 17.2%. A complete set of ABI measurements (three observers performing two Doppler measurements each) was obtained from 108 subjects. From all other subjects at least one ABI measurement was obtained. The mean ABI was 1.08 (± 0.13), 15 (7.9%) volunteers had an ABI <0.9, and none had an ABI >1.4, i.e. a ratio that may be associated with increased stiffening of the arterial walls. CONCLUSION: This is the first large-scale study investigating the components of variability and thus reliability in ABI measurements. The advantage of the new study design introduced here is that only one sixth of the number of theoretically possible measurements is required to obtain information about measurement errors. Bland-Altman plots show that there are only small differences and no systematic bias between the observers from three occupational groups with different training backgrounds

Detection of large molecular weight cytokeratin 8 as carrier protein of CA19–9 in non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines

It has been reported that cytokeratin 8 (CK8) is expressed in all non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC). We hypothesized that antigenic changes of CK8 may occur in some NSCLC cell lines. To prove this, Western immunoblot analysis using anti-human CK8 monoclonal antibodies as well as immunohistological staining of CK8 were performed in NSCLC cell lines. As a result, CK8 which had a higher molecular weight than recombinant CK8 was demonstrated in two of eight NSCLC cell lines. In addition, this CK8 contained antigenic epitopes of CA19–9. This CK8 with higher molecular weight, may have played a role in the process of invasion or metastasis of NSCLC. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig