558 research outputs found
Neuroanatomical Distribution of Neurons within the Hypothalamic Paraventricular Nucleus that Project to the Brainstem Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla
The sympathetic nervous system is important in maintaining cardiovascular homeostasis. Elevated cardiovascular-related sympathetic activity can lead to neurogenic hypertension and a host of other serious cardiac-related abnormalities. The paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus plays an important role in sympathetic cardiovascular regulation. Neurons from the PVN project to the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), which is the main brain stem sympathetic cardiovascular control center. While RVLM-projecting PVN neurons have been well characterized, the topographical organization within the PVN subnuclei is still not fully known. This neuroanatomical study aimed to map the topographical distribution of RVLM-projecting PVN neurons. Four different carboxylate FluoSphereTM retrograde tracers (blue, 365/415; green, 505/515; red, 565/580; and far-red, 660/680) were injected at different rostro-caudal coordinates within the RVLM. The vast majority of RVLM-projecting PVN neurons were ipsilateral and located in the medial parvocellular subnucleus. Whereas most neurons were ipsilateral, there is a small fraction of neurons that crossed the midline. RVLM-projecting neurons were also identified within the dorsal, ventral, and posterior parvocellular subnuclei of the PVN with no labeling found in the anterior parvocellular or magnocellular subnuclei. Additionally, we observed different efficiencies of the retrograde tracers with blue (365/415) being the least efficient and red (565/580) being the best. These neuroanatomical data will serve as important preliminary data for future research investigating the functional and histochemical properties of these PVN neurons
Accessing NMDB data using NEST and pandas
The Neutron Monitor database (NMDB) was created by teams from 12 different countries in 2008. Data from neutron monitors worldwide is pooled and made available, for many stations in real-time. The NMDB Event Search Tool (NEST) started as a quick-look interface to the data in NMDB, but by now has become the main interface to all NMDB data. NEST does not only enable you to plot data from one or several NMDB stations in a very customizable way, it also allows you to retrieve the data in ASCII format for further processing or creating your own plots. Downloading data can be scripted using âwgetâ or âcurlâ as documented in â3 ways 2 use NESTâ. Here we are presenting python functions to read in data from one or several stations directly from NEST into a pandas dataframe. Once your data is in a âdataframeâ, you can easily sort, modify or plot data with python
Critical Appraisal Bibliography, Scientific Abstract, and Matrix/Evidence Table
Introduction and Background
As chronic and acute pain disorders continue to be diagnosed in the clinical setting, the number of patients searching for medical care in hopes of alleviating their symptoms is on the rise. Working in both medical and psychiatric facilities as a certified nursing assistant, I saw opioids frequently prescribed as a pharmacological treatment for individuals looking to lessen the pain associated with a multitude of pain related disorders. Working in long term care facilities, I watched individuals who had never struggled with substance use disorders develop clinical dependencies on narcotic medication due to the fact that they were prescribed opioids as a means of pain reduction. I watched as individuals who had no prior history of substance abuse or addiction begin to scream in anger and frustration every four hours demanding their medication the second it was available to them after undergoing an event that caused them to experience severe pain (e.g, invasive procedures, falls, etc). Being even a few minutes late to administer their narcotic medication could mean completely destroying a therapeutic rapport with a patient. I saw patients who were previously able to carry out pleasant conversation spending all day in an opioid induced stupor, declining in neurological functioning, and so high from their medication, they were unable to complete ADLs without extensive assistance from a member of the healthcare team. While the patient is not to blame for this phenomenon, as they are just doing what is available to them as treatment for their condition, the healthcare system is doing patients a disservice by not offering alternative forms of pain management for individuals suffering with pain related symptoms. Because of this, we became interested in researching the opioid crisis, how it came to be, and ways that healthcare providers can help to reduce the amount of patients who are forced to deal with clinical dependency and opioid induced debilitation by providing alternative forms of pain management, specifically for individuals experiencing post-operative pain, as it was the most common trigger of pain I saw in the patient populations I have worked with in the clinical setting.
Purpose Statement
The population we will be researching includes individuals experiencing postoperative pain, who would typically undergo pharmacotherapy with opioids to alleviate their symptoms. The interventions we will be researching include ways that the registered nurse and providers can help reduce their patientâs pain using different forms of alternative pain management that do not include opioid medication. We will be comparing the effectiveness and practicality of opioid therapy to that of other forms of pain management to better understand the ways that patients can work to reduce their pain symptoms in ways that do not include narcotic medication. The way we will evaluate outcomes is by evaluating the current literature surrounding the topic and comparing the results from studies comparing the effectiveness of opioid therapy and the results from alternative forms of pain management.
Literature Review
In order to research this topic in greater depth, we used google scholar, PubMed, and CINAHL to ensure that each source we used was evidence-based and peer reviewed to the information we gathered was accurate, unbiased, and applicable to the clinical setting. Some databases we utilized included The National Library of Medicine, The Journal of Nursing Regulation, & Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic & Related Surgery, all evidence-based and peer-reviewed databases. Luckily, there is an objectively large amount of data existing around the concept of pain management, as it is such a prevalent problem for individuals seeking medical care.
Findings
After researching forms of alternative pain management for post operative patients, we found three concepts to explore as an alternative to narcotic medication for pain management. These three concepts include: acupuncture therapy, low dose steroid use, and medical cannabis. There is strong evidence to support the effectiveness of these three treatments for managing pain symptoms. While the research on medical cannabis for post operative pain tends to be limited due to legality issues and issues regarding how to correctly dose the drug, there is large evidence to support the effectiveness of cannabis for chronic pain disorders and neuropathy that can result from undergoing surgical procedures.
Conclusion
After reviewing these three concepts as a form of alternative pain management, we found that there is evidence to support these forms of treatment as a viable alternative to opioid medication, or by implementing these treatments, patients may be able to reduce the amount of opioids it takes to alleviate their pain, reducing their chances of developing side effects or overdosing. There are gaps in the literature regarding cannabis as an effective treatment for acute pain due to complications of researching a schedule one substance, but there is evidence to support cannabis as a treatment for chronic pain issues that can develop from invasive surgical procedures. It is important that nurses are informed about these methods of alternative pain management in order to ensure that their clients are undergoing the best course of care possible if opioids are not a reasonable form of treatment for managing postoperative pain
The low wind expansion velocity of metal-poor carbon stars in the Halo and the Sagittarius stream
We report the detection, from observations using the James Clerk Maxwell
Telescope, of CO J 3 2 transition lines in six carbon stars, selected
as members of the Galactic Halo and having similar infrared colors. Just one
Halo star had been detected in CO before this work. Infrared observations show
that these stars are red (J-K 3), due to the presence of large dusty
circumstellar envelopes. Radiative transfer models indicates that these stars
are losing mass with rather large dust mass-loss rates in the range 1--3.3
Myr, similar to what can be observed in the
Galactic disc. We show that two of these stars are effectively in the Halo, one
is likely linked to the stream of the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal galaxy (Sgr
dSph), and the other three stars certainly belong to the thick disc. The wind
expansion velocities of the observed stars are low compared to carbon stars in
the thin disc and are lower for the stars in the Halo and the Sgr dSph stream
than in the thick disc. We discuss the possibility that the low expansion
velocities result from the low metallicity of the Halo carbon stars. This
implies that metal-poor carbon stars lose mass at a rate similar to metal-rich
carbon stars, but with lower expansion velocities, as predicted by recent
theoretical models. This result implies that the current estimates of mass-loss
rates from carbon stars in Local Group galaxies will have to be reconsidered.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Capacity of a bosonic memory channel with Gauss-Markov noise
We address the classical capacity of a quantum bosonic memory channel with
additive noise, subject to an input energy constraint. The memory is modeled by
correlated noise emerging from a Gauss-Markov process. Under reasonable
assumptions, we show that the optimal modulation results from a "quantum
water-filling" solution above a certain input energy threshold, similar to the
optimal modulation for parallel classical Gaussian channels. We also derive
analytically the optimal multimode input state above this threshold, which
enables us to compute the capacity of this memory channel in the limit of an
infinite number of modes. The method can also be applied to a more general
noise environment which is constructed by a stationary Gauss process. The
extension of our results to the case of broadband bosonic channels with colored
Gaussian noise should also be straightforward.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, final corrections mad
Gaussian capacity of the quantum bosonic channel with additive correlated Gaussian noise
We present an algorithm for calculation of the Gaussian classical capacity of
a quantum bosonic memory channel with additive Gaussian noise. The algorithm,
restricted to Gaussian input states, is applicable to all channels with noise
correlations obeying certain conditions and works in the full input energy
domain, beyond previous treatments of this problem. As an illustration, we
study the optimal input states and capacity of a quantum memory channel with
Gauss-Markov noise [J. Sch\"afer, Phys. Rev. A 80, 062313 (2009)]. We evaluate
the enhancement of the transmission rate when using these optimal entangled
input states by comparison with a product coherent-state encoding and find out
that such a simple coherent-state encoding achieves not less than 90% of the
capacity.Comment: 12+6 pages, 9 figures. Errors corrected, figures were made clearer,
appendix improved and extende
A METHODOLOGY FOR THE CREATION OF METEOROLOGICAL DATASETS FOR LOCAL AIR QUALITY MODELLING AT AIRPORTS
In order to properly estimate local air pollution concentrations at airports, several different dispersion models are
routinely applied using a variety of different modeling approaches (Gaussian, Lagrangian or Eulerian). Common to all dispersion
models is the requirement for accurate meteorological parameters. The paper outlines the benefits and risks of three separate
approaches to obtain meteorological input for atmospheric dispersion models.
The preferred approach is based on directly-measured observations and the primary source of readily available observed data at
airports is METAR. A typical METAR report contains observations of temperature, dew point, wind, precipitation, cloud cover,
cloud heights, visibility, and barometric pressure. However, most dispersion models require information on atmospheric stability.
Although stability is not directly reported in METAR data, a widely-available algorithm allows for the estimation of atmospheric
stability class using measured values of wind speed and the observed cloud cover.
The next preferred option should be used when METAR or other observed data are not readily available or more sophisticated 3D
gridded meteorological fields are required by the specific dispersion model. This second approach uses meso-scale numerical
weather prediction (NWP) models. These models can produce high quality âbest guessâ meteorological fields on a wide variety of
time and distance scales. NWP models, however, require high-level meteorological expertise in order to run and are computationally
intense. This may make the NWP approach impractical for use in routine applications or for large-scale studies which involve many
different airports.
Finally, this paper outlines a third approach to obtaining meteorological data. This approach uses long-term, globally-archived,
gridded meteorological analysis fields, such as REANALYSIS data, which are readily available and cover long-term time scales.
Although less accurate than METAR and NWP models, this approach may be of benefit to those users who require âgood guessâ
meteorological data for air pollution studies in those cases where direct observations, such as METAR, are not available and NWP
modelling is not a viable solution
The Heliophysics Feature Catalogue, a tool for the study of solar features
The behavior of filaments and prominences during the Solar Cycle is a signature of Sun's activity. It is therefore important to follow their evolution during the cycle, in order to be able to associate it with the various phases of the Solar Cycle as well as with other Solar features or events. The virtual observatory HELIO provides information that can be used for such studies, especially its Heliophysics Feature Catalogue gives a unique access to the description of various features during around one cycle. Features available are: filaments, prominences, photospheric and coronal active regions, coronal radio emission, type III radio bursts, coronal holes and sunspots. Web interfaces allow the user to query data for these features. Useful information can also be shared with other HELIO services, such as Heliophysics Event Catalogue, which provides access to dozens of tables of events such as flares, CME
Architecture for in-space robotic assembly of a modular space telescope
An architecture and conceptual design for a robotically assembled, modular space telescope (RAMST) that enables extremely large space telescopes to be conceived is presented. The distinguishing features of the RAMST architecture compared with prior concepts include the use of a modular deployable structure, a general-purpose robot, and advanced metrology, with the option of formation flying. To demonstrate the feasibility of the robotic assembly concept, we present a reference design using the RAMST architecture for a formation flying 100-m telescope that is assembled in Earth orbit and operated at the SunâEarth Lagrange Point 2
The Millimeter Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz (MALT90) Pilot Survey
We describe a pilot survey conducted with the Mopra 22-m radio telescope in
preparation for the Millimeter Astronomy Legacy Team Survey at 90 GHz (MALT90).
We identified 182 candidate dense molecular clumps using six different
selection criteria and mapped each source simultaneously in 16 different lines
near 90 GHz. We present a summary of the data and describe how the results of
the pilot survey shaped the design of the larger MALT90 survey. We motivate our
selection of target sources for the main survey based on the pilot detection
rates and demonstrate the value of mapping in multiple lines simultaneously at
high spectral resolution.Comment: Accepted to ApJS. 23 pages and 16 figures. Full resolution version
with an appendix showing all the data (12.1 MB) is available at
http://malt90.bu.edu/publications/Foster_2011_Malt90Pilot.pd
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