1,328 research outputs found
Carpal tunnel syndrome associated with oral bisphosphonates. A population-based cohort study
© 2016 Carvajal et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Background: Bisphosphonates are widely used to prevent osteoporotic fractures. Some severe musculoskeletal reactions have been described with this medication; among them, some cases of carpal tunnel syndrome. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore whether bisphosphonates may be associated with this syndrome. Methods: A cohort study was conducted to compare exposed to unexposed women; the exposed group was that composed of women having received at least one prescription of an oral bisphosphonate. For the purpose, we used information from The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database. The outcome of interest was defined as those women diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. A survival analysis was performed; the Cox proportional hazard model was used to calculate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals, and to adjust for identified confounding variables. Results: Out of a sample of 59,475 women older than 51 years, 19,825 were treated with bisphosphonates during the period studied. No differences in age distribution or mean follow-up time were observed between the two groups in comparison. Overall, there were 572 women diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, 242 (1.2%) in the group exposed to bisphosphonates, and 330 (0.8%) in the unexposed. An adjusted hazard ratio of developing carpal tunnel syndrome of 1.38 (95%CI, 1.15-1.64) was found for women exposed to bisphosphonates; no significant changes in the hazard ratios were found when considering different levels of bisphosphonate exposure
The variable stars in the field of NGC 6139: A critical approach to their reddening and membership
We present a CCD time-series analysis of the globular cluster NGC 6139
and its variable star population. Using the astrometric data available in
-DR3 we performed a membership analysis that enabled the construction of
a clean Colour-Magnitude Diagram (CMD). Variable stars in the field of the
cluster reported by -DR3 and newly discovered ones in this paper are
classified and their membership is critically evaluated. We report two cluster
member RRc (V12, V15) and four SR (V13, V14, V17, V18) not previously detected
and assign variable names to V11 and V16 detected by as they proof to be
cluster members. Light curves and periods for non-member eclipsing
binaries, semi regular variables and newly detected RR Lyrae stars are
provided. Fourier decomposition of the light curves of the cluster member RRab
and RRc stars leads to the values [Fe/H]= dex, and distance of
9.630.68 kpc. The Oosterhoff type II nature of the cluster is confirmed.
We adopted the mean reddening =0.786 mag and performed a differential
reddening analysis based on the dispersion of the red giant branch. The
differential map allowed a mild correction of the CMD.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, 5 table
Variable stars in the field of the Galactic bulge globular cluster NGC 6522
We present a comprehensive analysis of the variable stars projected on the
field of the Galactic bulge globular cluster NGC 6522, offering valuable
insights into their characteristics. Using proper motions from Gaia DR3, we aim
to distinguish between field stars and true cluster members. For an accurate
color-magnitude diagram of the member stars, we produced a differential
reddening map. We detect and discuss the peculiarities of variable stars of the
types RR Lyrae, type II Cepheids, Long Period Variables (LPV) and eclipsing
binaries, whose light curves are available through the OGLE III and IV
databases. Notably, we explore the variable V24, which shows a prominent phase
modulation resulting from period changes in a time scale of ~1100 days. The
variable stars among the cluster members serve as indicators of the cluster
metallicity and distance; these determinations are based on their light curves.
With the Fourier light curve decomposition of three RRc stars, we have derived
the following cluster parameters: the metallicity in the spectroscopic scale
[Fe/H]=--1.16 0.09; and the mean distance
kpc.Comment: 15 pages, 10 Figures, 3 table
Insights into the room temperature magnetism of ZnO/Co3O4 mixtures
The origin of room temperature (RT) ferromagneticlike behavior in ZnO-based
diluted magnetic semiconductors is still an unclear topic. The present work
concentrates on the appearance of RT magnetic moments in just mixed ZnO/Co3O4
mixtures without thermal treatment. In this study, it is shown that the
magnetism seems to be related to surface reduction of the Co3O4 nanoparticles,
in which, an antiferromagnetic Co3O4 nanoparticle (core) is surrounded by a
CoO-like shell. This singular superficial magnetism has also been found in
other mixtures with semiconductors such as TiO2 and insulators such as Al2O3
An increase in nitric oxide produced by rat peritoneal neutrophils is not involved in cell apoptosis
Polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) obtained from carrageenin-stimulated peritoneal cavities of rats, but not blood PMN, spontaneously produced nitric oxide (NO) when incubated in vitro. Incubation of the cells with the NO synthase inhibitors, L-imino-ethyl-L-ornithine (L-NIO) or NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA), inhibited NO production. This inhibition could be reversed by L-arginine. Incubation of PMN with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) failed to enhance NO production. Pretreatment of the rats with dexamethasone (DEXA) prior to carrageenin injection or incubation of PMN with the glucocorticoid in vitro partially inhibited the spontaneous release of NO. On the other hand, when PMN obtained from DEXA pretreated rats were incubated in vitro with DEXA, NO synthase activity and hence NO generation were almost abolished. A similar inhibition was also observed following the addition of L-NIO or cycloheximide to cultures of carrageenin-elicited PMN. The NO production by PMN did not appear to be related to cell viability or apoptosis. Indeed, neither the blockade of NO generation by L-NIO nor the incubation of the neutrophils with a NO donor, S-nitroso-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) modified the pattern of LDH release or DNA fragmentation. In summary, it appears that PMN migration triggers a continuous NO synthesis, and that NO produced by these cells is not related to their apoptosis
Percolation transition and the onset of non exponential relaxation in fully frustrated models
We numerically study the dynamical properties of fully frustrated models in 2
and 3 dimensions. The results obtained support the hypothesis that the
percolation transition of the Kasteleyn-Fortuin clusters corresponds to the
onset of stretched exponential autocorrelation functions in systems without
disorder. This dynamical behavior may be due to the ``large scale'' effects of
frustration, present below the percolation threshold. Moreover these results
are consistent with the picture suggested by Campbell et al. in space of
configurations.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, revised versio
Massive open star clusters using the VVV survey III: A young massive cluster at the far edge of the Galactic bar
Context: Young massive clusters are key to map the Milky Way's structure, and
near-IR large area sky surveys have contributed strongly to the discovery of
new obscured massive stellar clusters.
Aims: We present the third article in a series of papers focused on young and
massive clusters discovered in the VVV survey. This article is dedicated to the
physical characterization of VVV CL086, using part of its OB-stellar
population.
Methods: We physically characterized the cluster using near-infrared
photometry from ESO public survey VVV images, using the VVV-SkZ pipeline, and
near-infrared -band spectroscopy, following the methodology presented in the
first article of the series.
Results: Individual distances for two observed stars indicate that the
cluster is located at the far edge of the Galactic bar. These stars, which are
probable cluster members from the statistically field-star decontaminated CMD,
have spectral types between O9 and B0V. According to our analysis, this young
cluster ( Myr age Myr) is located at a distance of
kpc, and we estimate a lower limit for the cluster total mass of
. It is likely that the cluster
contains even earlier and more massive stars.Comment: Accepted for publication as a Letter in A&
Columnar and lamellar phases in attractive colloidal systems
In colloidal suspensions, the competition between attractive and repulsive
interactions gives rise to a rich and complex phenomenology. Here, we study the
equilibrium phase diagram of a model system using a DLVO interaction potential
by means of molecular dynamics simulations and a thermodynamical approach. As a
result, we find tubular and lamellar phases at low volume fraction. Such
phases, extremely relevant for designing new materials, may be not easily
observed in the experiments because of the long relaxation times and the
presence of defects.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Phase-resolved Crab pulsar measurements from 25 to 400 GeV with the MAGIC telescopes
We report on observations of the Crab pulsar with the MAGIC telescopes. Our
data were taken in both monoscopic (> 25GeV) and stereoscopic (> 50GeV)
observation modes. Two peaks were detected with both modes and phase-resolved
energy spectra were calculated. By comparing with Fermi- LAT measurements, we
find that the energy spectrum of the Crab pulsar does not follow a power law
with an exponential cutoff, but has an additional hard component, extending up
to at least 400 GeV. This suggests that the emission above 25 GeV is not
dominated by curvature radiation, as suggested in the standard scenarios of the
OG and SG models.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Proc. TAUP 2011, submitted for publication in
JCP
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