Guidelines for a proposed lightning protection policy of a golf association or tournament sponsor

Because lightning causes many deaths and injuries each year on golf courses, guidelines are given for measures to be taken during golf events. Recommendations are given relative to warning systems, shelters, suspension of play, and the distribution of written policy statements

Functional integration of the circulatory, immune, and respiratory systems in mosquito larvae: pathogen killing in the hemocyte-rich tracheal tufts

E. coli injected into larvae and adults aggregate in regions of high hemolymph flow and hemocyte concentration. (A–F) Dissected larval (A–C) and adult (D–F) dorsal abdomens with fluorescently labeled hemocytes (CM-DiI; red) at 4 h after injection with GFP-E. coli (green). In larvae, E. coli preferentially aggregated in the eighth abdominal segment (A), where there is a high concentration of hemocytes (B, circles in C). In adults, E. coli aggregated at the periostial regions of the heart (D), where the periostial hemocytes are located (E, arrows in F). (G–L) Dissected larval (G–I) and adult (J–L) dorsal abdomens with fluorescently labeled hemocytes at 24 h after injection with GFP-E. coli. The aggregation pattern of E. coli in adults at 24 h after treatment was similar to that observed at 4 h post-treatment, but in larvae, fluorescence from E. coli was not observed anywhere in the body because the infection had been largely cleared. Diagonal lines in panels G–I denote the edges of rotated images. Directional arrows: A anterior, P posterior, L lateral. (PDF 679 kb

Dry season drinking from terrestrial man-made watering holes in arboreal wild Temminck’s red colobus, The Gambia

Like most arboreal primates, redcolobus monkeys obtain most water from plants in their diet, licking their body or drinking occasionally from standing water in tree holes. Terrestrial drinking is not normally reported for arboreal primates. Here we report observations of terrestrial drinking from man-made watering holes by Temminck’s red colobus (Piliocolobus badius temminckii) in Abuko Nature Reserve and Bijilo Forest Park, The Gambia. Colobus drinking behaviour in Abuko has been reported previously by Starin (1991, 2002), mostly involving juveniles or lactating females; water was most commonly obtained by licking water from the body and leaves or obtained from tree holes. Some juveniles were seen drinking from swampy ground and puddles in the dry season, but otherwise the only terrestrial water body available to colobus during the study by Starin contained crocodiles, a known predator of red colobus at the site. Our observations show that shallow man-made watering holes that have since been created and do not harbour predators were used by different age classes. We discuss some of the implications of this behaviour for this endangered subspecies and report on the trend of increasing temperatures in The Gambia

Exercising the NON-VON Primary Processing Subsystem

The Primary Processing Subsystem of the NON-VON supercomputer potentially may comprise thousands of custom nMOS integrated circuits. It is vital that faulty components be detected and located. This paper provides a collection of algorithms to exercise the Primary Processing Subsystem so that the manifestation of latent faults may be observed

Healthcare resource use and costs of severe, uncontrolled eosinophilic asthma in the UK general population

Acknowledgments The authors thank Derek Skinner (Cambridge Research Support Ltd, Oakington, Cambridge, UK) for assistance with data extraction.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Catalog of Edge-on Disk Galaxies from SDSS. Part I: the catalog and the Structural Parameters of Stellar Disks

We present a catalog of true edge-on disk galaxies automatically selected from the Seventh Data Release (DR7) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. A visual inspection of the $g$, $r$ and $i$ images of about 15000 galaxies allowed us to split the initial sample of edge-on galaxy candidates into 4768 (31.8% of the initial sample) genuine edge-on galaxies, 8350 (55.7%) non-edge-ons, and 1865 (12.5%) edge-on galaxies not suitable for simple automatic analysis because these objects show signs of interaction, warps, or nearby bright stars project on it. We added more candidate galaxies from RFGC, EFIGI, RC3, and Galaxy Zoo catalogs found in the SDSS footprints. Our final sample consists of 5747 genuine edge-on galaxies. We estimate the structural parameters of the stellar disks (the stellar disk thickness, radial scale length, and central surface brightness) in the galaxies by analyzing photometric profiles in each of the g, r, and i images. We also perform simplified 3-D modeling of the light distribution in the stellar disks of edge-on galaxies from our sample. Our large sample is intended to be used for studying scaling relations in the stellar disks and bulges and for estimating parameters of the thick disks in different types of galaxies via the image stacking. In this paper we present the sample selection procedure and general description of the sample.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

A genome-wide association study demonstrates significant genetic variation for fracture risk in Thoroughbred racehorses

Background: Thoroughbred racehorses are subject to non-traumatic distal limb bone fractures that occur during racing and exercise. Susceptibility to fracture may be due to underlying disturbances in bone metabolism which have a genetic cause. Fracture risk has been shown to be heritable in several species but this study is the first genetic analysis of fracture risk in the horse. Results: Fracture cases (n = 269) were horses that sustained catastrophic distal limb fractures while racing on UK racecourses, necessitating euthanasia. Control horses (n = 253) were over 4 years of age, were racing during the same time period as the cases, and had no history of fracture at the time the study was carried out. The horses sampled were bred for both flat and National Hunt (NH) jump racing. 43,417 SNPs were employed to perform a genome-wide association analysis and to estimate the proportion of genetic variance attributable to the SNPs on each chromosome using restricted maximum likelihood (REML). Significant genetic variation associated with fracture risk was found on chromosomes 9, 18, 22 and 31. Three SNPs on chromosome 18 (62.05 Mb – 62.15 Mb) and one SNP on chromosome 1 (14.17 Mb) reached genome-wide significance (p <0.05) in a genome-wide association study (GWAS). Two of the SNPs on ECA 18 were located in a haplotype block containing the gene zinc finger protein 804A (ZNF804A). One haplotype within this block has a protective effect (controls at 1.95 times less risk of fracture than cases, p = 1 × 10-4), while a second haplotype increases fracture risk (cases at 3.39 times higher risk of fracture than controls, p = 0.042). Conclusions: Fracture risk in the Thoroughbred horse is a complex condition with an underlying genetic basis. Multiple genomic regions contribute to susceptibility to fracture risk. This suggests there is the potential to develop SNP-based estimators for genetic risk of fracture in the Thoroughbred racehorse, using methods pioneered in livestock genetics such as genomic selection. This information would be useful to racehorse breeders and owners, enabling them to reduce the risk of injury in their horses

Comparing the effectiveness of small-particle versus large-particle inhaled corticosteroid in COPD

Dirkje S Postma,1 Nicolas Roche,2 Gene Colice,3 Elliot Israel,4 Richard J Martin,5 Willem MC van Aalderen,6 Jonathan Grigg,7 Anne Burden,8 Elizabeth V Hillyer,8 Julie von Ziegenweidt,8 Gokul Gopalan,9 David Price8,10 1University of Groningen, Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; 2Respiratory and Intensive Care Medicine, Cochin Hospital Group, APHP, Paris-Descartes University (EA2511), Paris, France; 3Pulmonary, Critical Care and Respiratory Services, Washington Hospital Center and George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington DC, USA; 4Pulmonary and Critical Care Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 5Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, USA; 6Dept of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, Emma Children's Hospital AMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 7Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University London, London, UK; 8Research in Real Life, Ltd, Cambridge, UK; 9Respiratory, Global Scientific Affairs, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Frazer, PA, USA; 10Academic Primary Care, Division of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK Purpose: Small airway changes and dysfunction contribute importantly to airway obstruction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is currently treated with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and long-acting bronchodilators at Global initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) grades 2–4. This retrospective matched cohort analysis compared effectiveness of a representative small-particle ICS (extrafine beclomethasone) and larger-particle ICS (fluticasone) in primary care patients with COPD. Patients and methods: Smokers and ex-smokers with COPD ≥40 years old initiating or stepping-up their dose of extrafine beclomethasone or fluticasone were matched 1:1 for demographic characteristics, index prescription year, concomitant therapies, and disease severity during 1 baseline year. During 2 subsequent years, we evaluated treatment change and COPD exacerbations, defined as emergency care/hospitalization for COPD, acute oral corticosteroids, or antibiotics for lower respiratory tract infection. Results: Mean patient age was 67 years, 57%–60% being male. For both initiation (n=334:334) and step-up (n=189:189) patients, exacerbation rates were comparable between extrafine beclomethasone and fluticasone cohorts during the 2 year outcome period. Odds of treatment stability (no exacerbation or treatment change) were significantly greater for patients initiating extrafine beclomethasone compared with fluticasone (adjusted odds ratio 2.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.32–4.73). Median ICS dose exposure during 2 outcome years was significantly lower (P<0.001) for extrafine beclomethasone than fluticasone cohorts (315 µg/day versus 436 µg/day for initiation, 438 µg/day versus 534 µg/day for step-up patients). Conclusion: We observed that small-particle ICS at significantly lower doses had comparable effects on exacerbation rates as larger-particle ICS at higher doses, whereas initiation of small-particle ICS was associated with better odds of treatment stability during 2-years' follow-up. Keywords: COPD exacerbation, extrafine particle, matched cohort analysis, real life, small airway