Llif yr atmosffer drydanol dros begwn y gogledd: arsylwadau tomograffi radio a SuperDARN

The paper investigates the structure and behaviour of the nighttime ionised (electrified) atmosphere in the polar and auroral regions; the region where the aurora borealis occurs. Of particular interest are plasma structures on horizontal scales of hundreds of kilometres. The observations presented were made by the radiotomography experiment of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, which has four satellite receiving systems in the high Arctic near the north pole, at Ny Ålesund and Longyearbyen on Svalbard, Bjørnøya (Bear Island) and Tromsø on mainland Norway. Comparisons of tomography images with observations of plasma flow by the international SuperDARN radar suggest that large density plasma produced on the dayside flows across the polar region and into the night sector. The results contribute to the interpretation of physical processes that couple the Earth's environment with space, and are also of interest to users of radio systems where the ionised atmosphere can degrade the propagation of the signals

Self-reported throat symptoms in Ehlers–Danlos syndromes and hypermobility spectrum disorders: A cross-sectional survey study

Objectives: This study identified the frequency and severity of dysphagia, dysphonia, and laryngopharyngeal reflux symptoms in people with Ehlers–Danlos syndromes (EDS) or hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) and explored differences between diagnostic groups. Methods: Participants were recruited via non-probability convenience sampling. Information was gathered via online survey, including the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI; Belafsky et al., J Voice. 2002;16:274–277), the Eating and Drinking Assessment Tool (EAT-10; Belafsky et al., Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2008;117:919–924), and the Voice Handicap Index (VHI; Jacobson et al., Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 1997;6(3):66–70). These were analyzed using ANOVAs. Results: There were 1620 participants (96.6% female, 2.8% male) that met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 38.09 (SD 12.22). 75.51% had hypermobile EDS (hEDS), 17.83% had HSD and 3.33% had classic EDS (cED). The cohort's mean scores were RSI = 22.95 (SD 9.01), EAT-10 = 11.91 (SD 9.66), and VHI score = 31.99 (SD 24.36). The hEDS group had significantly higher mean scores than the HSD group on RSI score and on some RSI items, on EAT-10 score and on all EAT-10 items, and on one VHI item. Conclusion: People with EDS/HSD experience symptoms of acid reflux, dysphagia, and dysphonia to varying degrees with significant differences between hEDS than HSD. Awareness of the impact of EDS/HSD on throat symptoms will enable health care professionals to anticipate throat symptoms more readily in this population, providing individualized and effective management plans. Level of Evidence: IV

The Age of the Galactic Disk

I review different methods devised to derive the age of the Galactic Disk, namely the Radio-active Decay (RD), the Cool White Dwarf Luminosity Function (CWDLF), old opne clusters (OOC) and the Color Magnitude Diagram (CMD) of the stars in the solar vicinity. I argue that the disk is likely to be 8-10 Gyr old. Since the bulk of globulars has an age around 13 Gyr, the possibility emerges that the Galaxy experienced a minimum of Star Formation at the end of the halo/bulge formation. This minimum might reflect the time at which the Galaxy started to acquire material to form the disk inside-out.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure, invited review, in "The chemical evolution of the Milky Way : Stars vs Clusters, Vulcano (Italy), 20-24 September 199

Associations between childhood deaths and adverse childhood experiences: An audit of data from a child death overview panel

Background: Despite strong associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and poor health, few studies have examined the cumulative impact of ACEs on causes of childhood mortality. Methods: This study explored if data routinely collected by child death overview panels (CDOPs) could be used to measure ACE exposure and examined associations between ACEs and child death categories. Data covering four years (2012–2016) of cases from a CDOP in North West England were examined. Results: Of 489 cases, 20% were identified as having ≥4 ACEs. Deaths of children with ≥4 ACEs were 22.26 (5.72–86.59) times more likely (than those with 0 ACEs) to be classified as ‘avoidable and non-natural’ causes (e.g., injury, abuse, suicide; compared with ‘genetic and medical conditions’). Such children were also 3.44 (1.75–6.73) times more likely to have their deaths classified as ‘chronic and acute conditions’. Conclusions: This study evidences that a history of ACEs can be compiled from CDOP records. Measurements of ACE prevalence in retrospective studies will miss individuals who died in childhood and may underestimate the impacts of ACEs on lifetime health. Strong associations between ACEs and deaths from ‘chronic and acute conditions’ suggest that ACEs may be important factors in child deaths in addition to those classified as ‘avoidable and non-natural’. Results add to an already compelling case for ACE prevention in the general population and families affected by child health problems. Broader use of routinely collected child death records could play an important role in improving multi-agency awareness of ACEs and their negative health and mortality risks as well in the development of ACE informed responses

Vascular disease and vascular risk factors in relation to motor features and cognition in early Parkinson's disease

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between vascular disease (and vascular risk factors), cognition and motor phenotype in Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: Recently diagnosed PD cases were enrolled in a multicenter prospective observational longitudinal cohort study. Montreal cognitive assessment (normal >23, mild cognitive impairment 22 to 23 or lower but without functional impairment, and dementia 21 or less with functional impairment) and Movement Disorder Society Unified PD Rating Scale part 3 (UPDRS 3) scores were analyzed in relation to a history of vascular events and risk factors. RESULTS: In 1759 PD cases, mean age 67.5 (standard deviation 9.3) years, mean disease duration 1.3 (standard deviation 0.9) years, 65.2% were men, 4.7% had a history of prior stroke or transient ischemic attack, and 12.5% had cardiac disease (angina, myocardial infarction, heart failure). In cases without a history of vascular disease, hypertension was recorded in 30.4%, high cholesterol 27.3%, obesity 20.7%, diabetes 7.2%, and cigarette smoking in 4.6%. Patients with prior stroke or transient ischemic attack were more likely to have cognitive impairment (42% vs 25%) and postural instability gait difficulty (53.5% vs 39.5%), but these findings were not significant after adjustment for age, sex, and disease duration (P = .075). The presence of more than 2 vascular risks was associated with worse UPDRS 3 motor scores (beta coefficient 4.05, 95% confidence interval 1.48, 6.61, p = .002) and with cognitive impairment (ordinal odds ratio 2.24, 95% confidence interval 1.34, 3.74, p = .002). In 842 patients (47.8%) with structural brain imaging, white matter leukoaraiosis, but not lacunar or territorial infarction, was associated with impaired cognition (p = .006) and postural instability gait difficulty (p = .010). CONCLUSION: Vascular comorbidity is significantly associated with cognitive and gait impairment in patients with early PD, which may have prognostic and treatment implications. © 2016 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society

Determinants of medication adherence to antihypertensive medications among a Chinese population using Morisky medication adherence scale

<b>Background and objectives</b> Poor adherence to medications is one of the major public health challenges. Only one-third of the population reported successful control of blood pressure, mostly caused by poor drug adherence. However, there are relatively few reports studying the adherence levels and their associated factors among Chinese patients. This study aimed to study the adherence profiles and the factors associated with antihypertensive drug adherence among Chinese patients.<p></p> <b>Methods</b> A cross-sectional study was conducted in an outpatient clinic located in the New Territories Region of Hong Kong. Adult patients who were currently taking at least one antihypertensive drug were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire, consisting of basic socio-demographic profile, self-perceived health status, and self-reported medication adherence. The outcome measure was the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). Good adherence was defined as MMAS scores greater than 6 points (out of a total score of 8 points).<p></p> <b>Results</b> From 1114 patients, 725 (65.1%) had good adherence to antihypertensive agents. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted. Younger age, shorter duration of antihypertensive agents used, job status being employed, and poor or very poor self-perceived health status were negatively associated with drug adherence.<p></p> <b>Conclusion</b> This study reported a high proportion of poor medication adherence among hypertensive subjects. Patients with factors associated with poor adherence should be more closely monitored to optimize their drug taking behavior

Effects of air pollution and the introduction of the London Low Emission Zone on the prevalence of respiratory and allergic symptoms in schoolchildren in East London: a sequential cross-sectional study

The adverse effects of traffic-related air pollution on children’s respiratory health have been widely reported, but few studies have evaluated the impact of traffic-control policies designed to reduce urban air pollution. We assessed associations between traffic-related air pollutants and respiratory/allergic symptoms amongst 8–9 year-old schoolchildren living within the London Low Emission Zone (LEZ). Information on respiratory/allergic symptoms was obtained using a parent-completed questionnaire and linked to modelled annual air pollutant concentrations based on the residential address of each child, using a multivariable mixed effects logistic regression analysis. Exposure to traffic-related air pollutants was associated with current rhinitis: NOx (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00–1.02), NO2 (1.03, 1.00–1.06), PM10 (1.16, 1.04–1.28) and PM2.5 (1.38, 1.08–1.78), all per μg/m3 of pollutant, but not with other respiratory/allergic symptoms. The LEZ did not reduce ambient air pollution levels, or affect the prevalence of respiratory/allergic symptoms over the period studied. These data confirm the previous association between traffic-related air pollutant exposures and symptoms of current rhinitis. Importantly, the London LEZ has not significantly improved air quality within the city, or the respiratory health of the resident population in its first three years of operation. This highlights the need for more robust measures to reduce traffic emissions

Equating scores of the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test and Sniffin' Sticks test in patients with Parkinson's disease

BACKGROUND: Impaired olfaction is an important feature in Parkinson's disease (PD) and other neurological diseases. A variety of smell identification tests exist such as "Sniffin' Sticks" and the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT). An important part of research is being able to replicate findings or combining studies in a meta-analysis. This is difficult if olfaction has been measured using different metrics. We present conversion methods between the: UPSIT, Sniffin' 16, and Brief-SIT (B-SIT); and Sniffin' 12 and Sniffin' 16 odour identification tests. METHODS: We used two incident cohorts of patients with PD who were tested with either the Sniffin' 16 (n = 1131) or UPSIT (n = 980) and a validation dataset of 128 individuals who took both tests. We used the equipercentile and Item Response Theory (IRT) methods to equate the olfaction scales. RESULTS: The equipercentile conversion suggested some bias between UPSIT and Sniffin' 16 tests across the two groups. The IRT method shows very good characteristics between the true and converted Sniffin' 16 (delta mean = 0.14, median = 0) based on UPSIT. The equipercentile conversion between the Sniffin' 12 and 16 item worked well (delta mean = 0.01, median = 0). The UPSIT to B-SIT conversion showed evidence of bias but amongst PD cases worked well (mean delta = -0.08, median = 0). CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated that one can convert UPSIT to B-SIT or Sniffin' 16, and Sniffin' 12 to 16 scores in a valid way. This can facilitate direct comparison between tests aiding future collaborative analyses and evidence synthesis

Statins are underused in recent-onset Parkinson's disease with increased vascular risk: findings from the UK Tracking Parkinson's and Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre (OPDC) discovery cohorts.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) influences phenotypic variation in Parkinson's disease (PD), and is usually an indication for statin therapy. It is less clear whether cardiovascular risk factors influence PD phenotype, and if statins are prescribed appropriately. OBJECTIVES: To quantify vascular risk and statin use in recent-onset PD, and examine the relationship between vascular risk, PD severity and phenotype. METHODS: Cardiovascular risk was quantified using the QRISK2 calculator (high ≥20%, medium ≥10 and <20%, low risk <10%). Motor severity and phenotype were assessed using the Movement Disorder Society Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) and cognition by the Montreal cognitive assessment. RESULTS: In 2909 individuals with recent-onset PD, the mean age was 67.5 years (SD 9.3), 63.5% were men and the mean disease duration was 1.3 years (SD 0.9). 33.8% of cases had high vascular risk, 28.7% medium risk, and 22.3% low risk, while 15.2% of cases had established CVD. Increasing vascular risk and CVD were associated with older age (p<0.001), worse motor score (p<0.001), more cognitive impairment (p<0.001) and worse motor phenotype (p=0.021). Statins were prescribed in 37.2% with high vascular risk, 15.1% with medium vascular risk and 6.5% with low vascular risk, which compared with statin usage in 75.3% of those with CVD. CONCLUSIONS: Over 60% of recent-onset PD patients have high or medium cardiovascular risk (meriting statin usage), which is associated with a worse motor and cognitive phenotype. Statins are underused in these patients, compared with those with vascular disease, which is a missed opportunity for preventive treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: GN11NE062, NCT02881099

In-medium hadronic spectral functions through the soft-wall holographic model of QCD

We study the scalar glueball and vector meson spectral functions in a hot and dense medium by means of the soft-wall holographic model of QCD. Finite temperature and density effects are implemented through the AdS/RN metric. We analyse the behaviour of the hadron masses and widths in the $(T,\mu)$ plane, and compare our results with the experimental ones and with other theoretical determinations.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures. matching the published versio