10,300 research outputs found
Cohort profile of the UK Biobank: diagnosis and characteristics of cerebrovascular disease
Purpose: The UK Biobank is a large-scale biomedical resource, containing sociodemographic and medical information, including data on a previous diagnosis of stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA). We described these participants and their medication usage.
Participants: We identified participants who either self-reported or were identified from a nurse-led interview, having suffered a stroke or a TIA and compared them against participants without stroke ort TIA. We assessed their risk factor burden (sex, age, deprivation, waist to hip ratio (WHR), hypertension, smoking, alcohol intake, diabetes, physical exercise and oral contraception use (oral contraceptive pill, OCP)) and medication usage.
Findings: to date We studied 502 650 people (54.41% women), 6669 (1.23%) participants self-reported a stroke. The nurse-led interview identified 7669 (1.53%) people with stroke and 1781 (0.35%) with TIA. Hypertension, smoking, higher WHR, lower alcohol consumption and diabetes were all more common in people with cerebrovascular disease (p<0.0001 for each). Women with cerebrovascular disease were less likely to have taken the OCP (p=0.0002). People with cerebrovascular disease did more exercise (p=0.03). Antithrombotic medication was taken by 81% of people with stroke (both self-report and nurse-led responders) and 89% with TIA. For self-reported stroke, 63% were taking antithrombotic and cholesterol medications, 54% taking antithrombotic and antihypertensive medications and 46% taking all 3. For the nurse-led interview and TIA, these figures were 65%, 54% and 46%, and 70%, 53% and 45%, respectively.
Future plans: The UK Biobank provides a large, generalisable and contemporary data source in a young population. The characterisation of the UK Biobank cohort with cerebrovascular disease will form the basis for ongoing research using this data source
Detection of Extremely Broad Water Emission from the molecular cloud interacting Supernova Remnant G349.7+0.2
We performed Herschel HIFI, PACS and SPIRE observations towards the molecular
cloud interacting supernova remnant G349.7+0.2. An extremely broad emission
line was detected at 557 GHz from the ground state transition 1_{10}-1_{01} of
ortho-water. This water line can be separated into three velocity components
with widths of 144, 27 and 4 km/s. The 144 km/s component is the broadest water
line detected to date in the literature. This extremely broad line width shows
importance of probing shock dynamics. PACS observations revealed 3 additional
ortho-water lines, as well as numerous high-J carbon monoxide (CO) lines. No
para-water lines were detected. The extremely broad water line is indicative of
a high velocity shock, which is supported by the observed CO rotational diagram
that was reproduced with a J-shock model with a density of 10^4 cm^{-3} and a
shock velocity of 80 km/s. Two far-infrared fine-structure lines, [O~I] at 145
micron and [C~II] line at 157 micron, are also consistent with the high
velocity J-shock model. The extremely broad water line could be simply from
short-lived molecules that have not been destroyed in high velocity J-shocks;
however, it may be from more complicated geometry such as high-velocity water
bullets or a shell expanding in high velocity. We estimate the CO and H2O
densities, column densities, and temperatures by comparison with RADEX and
detailed shock models. Detection of Extremely Broad Water Emission from the
molecular cloud interacting Supernova Remnant G349.7+0.
Discovery of Broad Molecular lines and of Shocked Molecular Hydrogen from the Supernova Remnant G357.7+0.3: HHSMT, APEX, Spitzer and SOFIA Observations
We report a discovery of shocked gas from the supernova remnant (SNR)
G357.7+0.3. Our millimeter and submillimeter observations reveal broad
molecular lines of CO(2-1), CO(3-2), CO(4-3), 13CO (2-1) and 13CO (3-2), HCO^+
and HCN using HHSMT, Arizona 12-Meter Telescope, APEX and MOPRA Telescope. The
widths of the broad lines are 15-30 kms, and the detection of such broad lines
is unambiguous, dynamic evidence showing that the SNR G357.7+0.3 is interacting
with molecular clouds. The broad lines appear in extended regions (>4.5'x5').
We also present detection of shocked H2 emission in mid-infrared but lacking
ionic lines using the Spitzer IRS observations to map a few arcmin area. The H2
excitation diagram shows a best-fit with a two-temperature LTE model with the
temperatures of ~200 and 660 K. We observed [C II] at 158um and high-J
CO(11-10) with the GREAT on SOFIA. The GREAT spectrum of [C II], a 3 sigma
detection, shows a broad line profile with a width of 15.7 km/s that is similar
to those of broad CO molecular lines. The line width of [C~II] implies that
ionic lines can come from a low-velocity C-shock. Comparison of H2 emission
with shock models shows that a combination of two C-shock models is favored
over a combination of C- and J-shocks or a single shock. We estimate the CO
density, column density, and temperature using a RADEX model. The best-fit
model with n(H2) = 1.7x10^{4} cm^{-3}, N(CO) = 5.6x10^{16} cm^{-2}, and T = 75
K can reproduce the observed millimeter CO brightnesses.Comment: 19 pages, 22 figure
The First Fermi-LAT SNR Catalog SNR and Cosmic Ray Implications
Galactic cosmic ray (CRs) sources, classically proposed to be Supernova
Remnants (SNRs), must meet the energetic particle content required by direct
measurements of high energy CRs. Indirect gamma-ray measurements of SNRs with
the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) have now shown directly that at least
three SNRs accelerate protons. With the first Fermi LAT SNR Catalog, we have
systematically characterized the GeV gamma-rays emitted by 279 SNRs known
primarily from radio surveys. We present these sources in a multiwavelength
context, including studies of correlations between GeV and radio size, flux,
and index, TeV index, and age and environment tracers, in order to better
understand effects of evolution and environment on the GeV emission. We show
that previously sufficient models of SNRs' GeV emission no longer adequately
describe the data. To address the question of CR origins, we also examine the
SNRs' maximal CR contribution assuming the GeV emission arises solely from
proton interactions. Improved breadth and quality of multiwavelength data,
including distances and local densities, and more, higher resolution gamma-ray
data with correspondingly improved Galactic diffuse models will strengthen this
constraint.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures; in Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic
Ray Conference (ICRC 2015), The Hague (The Netherlands
Entanglement without nonlocality
We consider the characterization of entanglement from the perspective of a
Heisenberg formalism. We derive an original two-party generalized separability
criteria, and from this describe a novel physical understanding of
entanglement. We find that entanglement may be considered as fundamentally a
local effect, and therefore as a separable computational resource from
nonlocality. We show how entanglement differs from correlation physically, and
explore the implications of this new conception of entanglement for the notion
of classicality. We find that this understanding of entanglement extends
naturally to multipartite cases.Comment: 9 pages. Expanded introduction and sections on physical entanglement
and localit
Extended OH(1720 MHz) Maser Emission from Supernova Remnants
Compact OH(1720 MHz) masers have proven to be excellent signposts for the
interaction of supernova remnants with adjacent molecular clouds. Less
appreciated has been the weak, extended OH(1720 MHz) emission which accompanies
strong compact maser sources. Recent single-dish and interferometric
observations reveal the majority of maser-emitting supernova remnants have
accompanying regions of extended maser emission. Enhanced OH abundance created
by the passing shock is observed both as maser emission and absorption against
the strong background of the remnant. Modeling the observed OH profiles gives
an estimate of the physical conditions in which weak, extended maser emission
arises. I will discuss how we can realize the utility of this extended maser
emission, particularly the potential to measure the strength of the post-shock
magnetic field via Zeeman splitting over these large-scales.Comment: 5 Pages, 2 Figures, To appear in IAU 242, Astrophysical Masers and
Their Environments, eds. J. Chapman & W. Baa
African review of economics and finance 2018 conference proceedings
Abstract: This paper draws from research that applied Systems Thinking to the development of suitable social structures that may aid or enhance social learning within the South African context. The South African social system is rigid and top-down. Communities use protest as a bottom-up form of participation to control the lack of procedural clarity that hinders sustainable social transformation. A qualitative research approach was adopted using Grounded Theory methodology to investigate the social system structure in South Africa. Thirty-five (35) participants were interviewed and three focus groups were convened. The analysis showed that the South African social system structure is characterised by a lack of openness, inflexibility, non-adaptability and an inability to learn. Based on the findings, recommendations are shared on the validity of an appropriate social system structure for South Africa that may facilitate stakeholder/citizen participation in social transformational activities
Integrability and explicit solutions in some Bianchi cosmological dynamical systems
The Einstein field equations for several cosmological models reduce to
polynomial systems of ordinary differential equations. In this paper we shall
concentrate our attention to the spatially homogeneous diagonal G_2
cosmologies. By using Darboux's theory in order to study ordinary differential
equations in the complex projective plane CP^2 we solve the Bianchi V models
totally. Moreover, we carry out a study of Bianchi VI models and first
integrals are given in particular cases
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