923 research outputs found
Blast injury prevalence in skeletal remains: Are there differences between Bosnian war samples and documented combat-related deaths?
© 2017 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences.Court cases at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) have seen questions raised about the recognition and causes of blast-related trauma and the relationship to human rights abuses or combat. During trials, defence teams argued that trauma was combat related and prosecutors argued that trauma was related to executions. We compared a sample of 81 cases (males between 18 and 75) from a Bosnian mass grave investigation linked to the Kravica warehouse killings to published combat-related blast injury data from World War One, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, the first Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan. We also compared blast fracture injuries from Bosnia to blast fracture injuries sustained in bombings of buildings in two non-combat 'civilian' examples; the Oklahoma City and Birmingham pub bombings. A Chi-squared statistic with a Holm-Bonferroni correction assessed differences between prevalence of blast-related fractures in various body regions, where data were comparable. We found statistically significant differences between the Bosnian and combat contexts. We noted differences in the prevalence of head, torso, vertebral area, and limbs trauma, with a general trend for higher levels of more widespread trauma in the Bosnian sample. We noted that the pattern of trauma in the Bosnian cases resembled the pattern from the bombing in buildings civilian contexts. Variation in trauma patterns can be attributed to the influence of protective armour; the context of the environment; and the type of munition and its injuring mechanism. Blast fracture injuries sustained in the Bosnian sample showed patterns consistent with a lack of body armour, blast effects on people standing in enclosed buildings and the use of explosive munitions
Economic and Market Analysis of CO2 Utilization Technologies – Focus on CO2 derived from North Dakota lignite
AbstractBased on information obtained about the technical aspects of the technologies, several challenges are expected to be faced by any potential CO2 utilization technologies intended for North Dakota lignite plants. The weather, alkaline content of lignite fly ash, and space limitations in the immediate vicinity of existing power plants are challenging hurdles to overcome. Currently, no CO2 utilization option is ready for implementation or integration with North Dakota power plants. Mineralization technologies suffer from the lack of a well-defined product and insufficient alkalinity in lignite fly ash. Algae and microalgae technologies are not economically feasible and will have weather- related challenges
SoxAX cytochromes, a new type of heme copper protein involved in bacterial energy generation from sulfur compounds
SoxAX cytochromes are essential for the function of the only confirmed pathway for bacterial thiosulfate oxidation, the so-called "Sox pathway," in which they catalyze the initial formation of a S-S bond between thiosulfate and the SoxYZ carrier protein. Our work using the Starkeya novella diheme SoxAX protein reveals for the first time that in addition to two active site heme groups, SoxAX contains a mononuclear Cu(II) center with a distorted tetragonal geometry and three to four nitrogen ligands, one of which is a histidine. The Cu(II) center enhanced SoxAX activity in a newly developed, glutathione-based assay system that mimics the natural reaction of SoxAX with SoxYZ. EPR spectroscopy confirmed that the SoxAX CuII center is reduced by glutathione. At pH 7 a K(m app) of 0.19 +/- 0.028 mM and a k(cat app) of 5.7 +/- 0.25s(-1) were determined for glutathione. We propose that SoxAX cytochromes are a new type of heme-copper proteins, with SoxAX-mediated S-S bond formation involving both the copper and heme centers
Structure, Photophysics and the Order-Disorder Transition to the Beta Phase in Poly(9,9-(di -n,n-octyl)fluorene)
X-ray diffraction, UV-vis absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy
have been used to study the well-known order-disorder transition (ODT) to the
beta phase in poly(9,9-(di n,n-octyl)fluorene)) (PF8) thin film samples through
combination of time-dependent and temperature-dependent measurements. The ODT
is well described by a simple Avrami picture of one-dimensional nucleation and
growth but crystallization, on cooling, proceeds only after molecular-level
conformational relaxation to the so called beta phase. Rapid thermal quenching
is employed for PF8 studies of pure alpha phase samples while extended
low-temperature annealing is used for improved beta phase formation. Low
temperature PL studies reveal sharp Franck-Condon type emission bands and, in
the beta phase, two distinguishable vibronic sub-bands with energies of
approximately 199 and 158 meV at 25 K. This improved molecular level structural
order leads to a more complete analysis of the higher-order vibronic bands. A
net Huang-Rhys coupling parameter of just under 0.7 is typically observed but
the relative contributions by the two distinguishable vibronic sub-bands
exhibit an anomalous temperature dependence. The PL studies also identify
strongly correlated behavior between the relative beta phase 0-0 PL peak
position and peak width. This relationship is modeled under the assumption that
emission represents excitons in thermodynamic equilibrium from states at the
bottom of a quasi-one-dimensional exciton band. The crystalline phase, as
observed in annealed thin-film samples, has scattering peaks which are
incompatible with a simple hexagonal packing of the PF8 chains.Comment: Submitted to PRB, 12 files; 1 tex, 1 bbl, 10 eps figure
Effects of anticholinergic and sedative medication use on fractures: A self-controlled design study
Background/Objectives: Unintentional falls are a leading cause of injury for older adults, and evidence is needed to understand modifiable risk factors. We evaluated 1-year fall-related fracture risk and whether dispensing of medications with anticholinergic/sedating properties is temporally associated with an increased odds of these fractures. Design: A retrospective cohort study with nested self-controlled analyses conducted between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2016. Setting: Twenty percent nationwide, random sample of US Medicare beneficiaries. Participants: New users of medications with anticholinergic/sedating properties who were 66+ years old and had Medicare Parts A, B, and D coverage but no claims for medications with anticholinergic/sedating properties in the year before initiation were eligible. Measurements: We followed new users of medications with anticholinergic/sedating properties until first non-vertebral, fall-related fracture (primary outcome), Medicare disenrollment, death, or end of study data. We estimated the 1-year risk with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of first fracture after new use. We applied the self-controlled case-crossover and case-time-control designs to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs by comparing anticholinergic and/or sedating medication exposure (any vs. none) during a 14-day hazard period preceding the fracture to exposure to these medications during an earlier 14-day control period. Results: A total of 1,097,989 Medicare beneficiaries initiated medications with anticholinergic/sedating properties in the study period. The 1-year cumulative incidence of fall-related fracture, accounting for death as a competing risk, was 5.0% (95% CI: 5.0%–5.0%). Using the case-crossover design (n = 41,889), the adjusted OR for the association between anticholinergic/sedating medications and fractures was 1.03 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.08). Accounting for the noted temporal trend using the case-time-control design (n = 209,395), the adjusted OR was 1.60 (95% CI: 1.52, 1.69). Conclusion: Use of anticholinergic/sedating medication was temporally associated with an increased odds of fall-related fractures. Patients and their healthcare providers should consider pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments for the target condition that are safer
Flavor changing Z-decays from scalar interactions at a Giga-Z Linear Collider
The flavor changing decay Z -> d_I \bar{d}_J is investigated with special
emphasis on the b \bar{s} final state. Various models for flavor violation are
considered: two Higgs doublet models (2HDM's), supersymmetry (SUSY) with flavor
violation in the up and down-type squark mass matrices and SUSY with flavor
violation mediated by R-parity-violating interaction. We find that, within the
SUSY scenarios for flavor violation, the branching ratio for the decay Z -> b
\bar{s} can reach 10^{-6} for large \tan\beta values, while the typical size
for this branching ratio in the 2HDM's considered is about two orders of
magnitudes smaller at best. Thus, flavor changing SUSY signatures in radiative
Z decays such as Z -> b \bar{s} may be accessible to future ``Z factories''
such as a Giga-Z version of the TESLA design.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figures, REVTeX4. A new section added and a few minor
corrections were made in the tex
Measurement of the residual energy of muons in the Gran Sasso underground Laboratories
The MACRO detector was located in the Hall B of the Gran Sasso underground
Laboratories under an average rock overburden of 3700 hg/cm^2. A transition
radiation detector composed of three identical modules, covering a total
horizontal area of 36 m^2, was installed inside the empty upper part of the
detector in order to measure the residual energy of muons. This paper presents
the measurement of the residual energy of single and double muons crossing the
apparatus. Our data show that double muons are more energetic than single ones.
This measurement is performed over a standard rock depth range from 3000 to
6500 hg/cm^2.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figure
Low energy atmospheric muon neutrinos in MACRO
We present the measurement of two event samples induced by atmospheric
of average energy . In the first sample,
the neutrino interacts inside the MACRO detector producing an upward-going muon
leaving the apparatus. The ratio of the number of observed to expected events
is with an angular
distribution similar to that expected from the Bartol atmospheric neutrino
flux. The second is a mixed sample of internally produced downward-going muons
and externally produced upward-going muons stopping inside the detector. These
two subsamples are selected by topological criteria; the lack of timing
information makes it impossible to distinguish stopping from downgoing muons.
The ratio of the number of observed to expected events is . Using the ratio of the two subsamples (for
which most theoretical uncertainties cancel) we can test the pathlength
dependence of the oscillation hypothesis. The probability of agreement with the
no-oscillation hypothesis is 5% .
The deviations of our observations from the expectations has a preferred
interpretation in terms of oscillations with maximal mixing and
. These parameters are in agreement
with our results from upward throughgoing muons, induced by of much
higher energies.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Phys. Lett.
Search for diffuse neutrino flux from astrophysical sources with MACRO
Many galactic and extragalactic astrophysical sources are currently
considered promising candidates as high energy neutrino emitters. Astrophysical
neutrinos can be detected as upward-going muons produced in charged-current
interactions with the medium surrounding the detector. The expected neutrino
fluxes from various models start to dominate on the atmospheric neutrino
background at neutrino energies above some tens of TeV. We present the results
of a search for an excess of high energy upward-going muons among the sample of
data collected by MACRO during ~5.8 years of effective running time. No
significant evidence for this signal was found. As a consequence, an upper
limit on the flux of upward-going muons from high-energy neutrinos was set at
the level of 1.7 10^(-14) cm^(-2) s^(-1) sr^(-1).
The corresponding upper limit for the diffuse neutrino flux was evaluated
assuming a neutrino power law spectrum. Our result was compared with
theoretical predictions and upper limits from other experiments.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, 2 table
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