73 research outputs found
Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS): a systematic review of anatomy and potential risk factors
Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS), a common cause of anterior knee pain, is successfully treated in over 2/3 of patients through rehabilitation protocols designed to reduce pain and return function to the individual. Applying preventive medicine strategies, the majority of cases of PFPS may be avoided if a pre-diagnosis can be made by clinician or certified athletic trainer testing the current researched potential risk factors during a Preparticipation Screening Evaluation (PPSE). We provide a detailed and comprehensive review of the soft tissue, arterial system, and innervation to the patellofemoral joint in order to supply the clinician with the knowledge required to assess the anatomy and make recommendations to patients identified as potentially at risk. The purpose of this article is to review knee anatomy and the literature regarding potential risk factors associated with patellofemoral pain syndrome and prehabilitation strategies. A comprehensive review of knee anatomy will present the relationships of arterial collateralization, innervations, and soft tissue alignment to the possible multifactoral mechanism involved in PFPS, while attempting to advocate future use of different treatments aimed at non-soft tissue causes of PFPS
Planck intermediate results: LVII. Joint Planck LFI and HFI data processing
We present the NPIPE processing pipeline, which produces calibrated frequency maps in temperature and polarization from data from the Planck
Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) and High Frequency Instrument (HFI) using high-performance computers. NPIPE represents a natural evolution
of previous Planck analysis efforts, and combines some of the most powerful features of the separate LFI and HFI analysis pipelines. For example,
following the LFI 2018 processing procedure, NPIPE uses foreground polarization priors during the calibration stage in order to break scanninginduced degeneracies. Similarly, NPIPE employs the HFI 2018 time-domain processing methodology to correct for bandpass mismatch at all
frequencies. In addition, NPIPE introduces several improvements, including, but not limited to: inclusion of the 8% of data collected during
repointing manoeuvres; smoothing of the LFI reference load data streams; in-flight estimation of detector polarization parameters; and construction
of maximally independent detector-set split maps. For component-separation purposes, important improvements include: maps that retain the CMB
Solar dipole, allowing for high-precision relative calibration in higher-level analyses; well-defined single-detector maps, allowing for robust CO
extraction; and HFI temperature maps between 217 and 857 GHz that are binned into 0.09 pixels (Nside = 4096), ensuring that the full angular
information in the data is represented in the maps even at the highest Planck resolutions. The net effect of these improvements is lower levels of
noise and systematics in both frequency and component maps at essentially all angular scales, as well as notably improved internal consistency
between the various frequency channels. Based on the NPIPE maps, we present the first estimate of the Solar dipole determined through component
separation across all nine Planck frequencies. The amplitude is (3366.6 ± 2.7) ”K, consistent with, albeit slightly higher than, earlier estimates.
From the large-scale polarization data, we derive an updated estimate of the optical depth of reionization of Ï = 0.051 ± 0.006, which appears
robust with respect to data and sky cuts. There are 600 complete signal, noise and systematics simulations of the full-frequency and detector-set
maps. As a Planck first, these simulations include full time-domain processing of the beam-convolved CMB anisotropies. The release of NPIPE
maps and simulations is accompanied with a complete suite of raw and processed time-ordered data and the software, scripts, auxiliary data, and
parameter files needed to improve further on the analysis and to run matching simulations
Planck 2018 results. VII. Isotropy and statistics of the CMB
Analysis of the Planck 2018 data set indicates that the statistical properties of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies are in excellent agreement with previous studies using the 2013 and 2015 data releases. In particular, they are consistent with the Gaussian predictions of the CDM cosmological model, yet also confirm the presence of several so-called "anomalies" on large angular scales. The novelty of the current study, however, lies in being a first attempt at a comprehensive analysis of the statistics of the polarization signal over all angular scales, using either maps of the Stokes parameters, and , or the -mode signal derived from these using a new methodology (which we describe in an appendix). Although remarkable progress has been made in reducing the systematic effects that contaminated the 2015 polarization maps on large angular scales, it is still the case that residual systematics (and our ability to simulate them) can limit some tests of non-Gaussianity and isotropy. However, a detailed set of null tests applied to the maps indicates that these issues do not dominate the analysis on intermediate and large angular scales (i.e., ). In this regime, no unambiguous detections of cosmological non-Gaussianity, or of anomalies corresponding to those seen in temperature, are claimed. Notably, the stacking of CMB polarization signals centred on the positions of temperature hot and cold spots exhibits excellent agreement with the CDM cosmological model, and also gives a clear indication of how Planck provides state-of-the-art measurements of CMB temperature and polarization on degree scales
Planck 2018 results. VII. Isotropy and Statistics of the CMB
Analysis of the Planck 2018 data set indicates that the statistical properties of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies are in excellent agreement with previous studies using the 2013 and 2015 data releases. In particular, they are consistent with the Gaussian predictions of the CDM cosmological model, yet also confirm the presence of several so-called "anomalies" on large angular scales. The novelty of the current study, however, lies in being a first attempt at a comprehensive analysis of the statistics of the polarization signal over all angular scales, using either maps of the Stokes parameters, and , or the -mode signal derived from these using a new methodology (which we describe in an appendix). Although remarkable progress has been made in reducing the systematic effects that contaminated the 2015 polarization maps on large angular scales, it is still the case that residual systematics (and our ability to simulate them) can limit some tests of non-Gaussianity and isotropy. However, a detailed set of null tests applied to the maps indicates that these issues do not dominate the analysis on intermediate and large angular scales (i.e., ). In this regime, no unambiguous detections of cosmological non-Gaussianity, or of anomalies corresponding to those seen in temperature, are claimed. Notably, the stacking of CMB polarization signals centred on the positions of temperature hot and cold spots exhibits excellent agreement with the CDM cosmological model, and also gives a clear indication of how Planck provides state-of-the-art measurements of CMB temperature and polarization on degree scales
Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.
In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field
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Planck intermediate results: LII. Planet flux densities
Measurements of flux density are described for five planets, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, across the six Planck High Frequency Instrument
frequency bands (100-857 GHz) and these are then compared with models and
existing data. In our analysis, we have also included estimates of the
brightness of Jupiter and Saturn at the three frequencies of the Planck Low
Frequency Instrument (30, 44, and 70 GHz). The results provide constraints on
the intrinsic brightness and the brightness time-variability of these planets.
The majority of the planet flux density estimates are limited by systematic
errors, but still yield better than 1% measurements in many cases. Applying
data from Planck HFI, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), and the
Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) to a model that incorporates contributions
from Saturn's rings to the planet's total flux density suggests a best fit
value for the spectral index of Saturn's ring system of over the 30-1000 GHz frequency range. The average ratio between
the Planck-HFI measurements and the adopted model predictions for all five
planets (excluding Jupiter observations for 353 GHz) is 0.997, 0.997, 1.018,
and 1.032 for 100, 143, 217, and 353 GHz, respectively. Model predictions for
planet thermodynamic temperatures are therefore consistent with the absolute
calibration of Planck-HFI detectors at about the three-percent-level. We
compare our measurements with published results from recent cosmic microwave
background experiments. In particular, we observe that the flux densities
measured by Planck HFI and WMAP agree to within 2%. These results allow
experiments operating in the mm-wavelength range to cross-calibrate against
Planck and improve models of radiative transport used in planetary science
Planck 2015 results I. Overview of products and scientific results
The European Space Agency's Planck satellite, which is dedicated to studying the early Universe and its subsequent evolution, was launched on 14 May 2009. It scanned the microwave and submillimetre sky continuously between 12 August 2009 and 23 October 2013. In February 2015, ESA and the Planck Collaboration released the second set of cosmology products based on data from the entire Planck mission, including both temperature and polarization, along with a set of scientific and technical papers and a web-based explanatory supplement. This paper gives an overview of the main characteristics of the data and the data products in the release, as well as the associated cosmological and astrophysical science results and papers. The data products include maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect, diffuse foregrounds in temperature and polarization, catalogues of compact Galactic and extragalactic sources (including separate catalogues of Sunyaev-Zeldovich clusters and Galactic cold clumps), and extensive simulations of signals and noise used in assessing uncertainties and the performance of the analysis methods. The likelihood code used to assess cosmological models against the Planck data is described, along with a CMB lensing likelihood. Scientific results include cosmological parameters derived from CMB power spectra, gravitational lensing, and cluster counts, as well as constraints on inflation, non-Gaussianity, primordial magnetic fields, dark energy, and modified gravity, and new results on low-frequency Galactic foregrounds
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