Underflight calibration of SOHO/CDS and Hinode/EIS with EUNIS-07

Flights of Goddard Space Flight Center's Extreme-Ultraviolet Normal-Incidence Spectrograph (EUNIS) sounding rocket in 2006 and 2007 provided updated radiometric calibrations for SOHO/CDS and Hinode/EIS. EUNIS carried two independent imaging spectrographs covering wavebands of 300-370 A in first order and 170-205 A in second order. After each flight, end-to-end radiometric calibrations of the rocket payload were carried out in the same facility used for pre-launch calibrations of CDS and EIS. During the 2007 flight, EUNIS, SOHO CDS and Hinode EIS observed the same solar locations, allowing the EUNIS calibrations to be directly applied to both CDS and EIS. The measured CDS NIS 1 line intensities calibrated with the standard (version 4) responsivities with the standard long-term corrections are found to be too low by a factor of 1.5 due to the decrease in responsivity. The EIS calibration update is performed in two ways. One is using the direct calibration transfer of the calibrated EUNIS-07 short wavelength (SW) channel. The other is using the insensitive line pairs, in which one member was observed by EUNIS-07 long wavelength (LW) channel and the other by EIS in either LW or SW waveband. Measurements from both methods are in good agreement, and confirm (within the measurement uncertainties) the EIS responsivity measured directly before the instrument's launch. The measurements also suggest that the EIS responsivity decreased by a factor of about 1.2 after the first year of operation. The shape of the EIS SW response curve obtained by EUNIS-07 is consistent with the one measured in laboratory prior to launch. The absolute value of the quiet-Sun He II 304 A intensity measured by EUNIS-07 is consistent with the radiance measured by CDS NIS in quiet regions near the disk center and the solar minimum irradiance obtained by CDS NIS and SDO/EVE recently.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, 5 tables, accepted by ApJ Supplement (Sep. 2011

Inferring ice fabric from birefringence loss in airborne radargrams : application to the eastern shear margin of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica

This work is ITGC Contribution No. ITGC-036 and is an output from the Thwaites Interdisciplinary Margin Evolution (TIME) project as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC), supported by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) research grant #NE/S006788/1 supporting T. J. Young and P. Christoffersen, and National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant #1739027 supporting S. M. Tulaczyk and D. M. Schroeder. Logistics for this project were provided by the NSF-U.S. Antarctic Program and NERC-British Antarctic Survey. R. Culberg is supported by a USA Department of Defense NDSEG Fellowship and N. L. Bienert is supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.In airborne radargrams, undulating periodic patterns in amplitude that overprint traditional radiostratigraphic layering are occasionally observed, however, they have yet to be analyzed from a geophysical or glaciological perspective. We present evidence supported by theory that these depth-periodic patterns are consistent with a modulation of the received radar power due to the birefringence of polar ice, and therefore indicate the presence of bulk fabric anisotropy. Here, we investigate the periodic component of birefringence-induced radar power recorded in airborne radar data at the eastern shear margin of Thwaites Glacier and quantify the lateral variation in azimuthal fabric strength across this margin. We find the depth variability of birefringence periodicity crossing the shear margin to be a visual expression of its shear state and its development, which appears consistent with present-day ice deformation. The morphology of the birefringent patterns is centered at the location of maximum shear and observed in all cross-margin profiles, consistent with predictions of ice fabric when subjected to simple shear. The englacial fabric appears stronger inside the ice stream than outward of the shear margin. The detection of birefringent periodicity from non-polarimetric radargrams presents a novel use of subsurface radar to constrain lateral variations in fabric strength, locate present and past shear margins, and characterize the deformation history of polar ice sheets.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Expansion of Electronic Health Record-Based Screening, Prevention, and Management of Diabetes in New York City

To address the increasing burden of diabetes in New York City, we designed 2 electronic health records (EHRs)-facilitated diabetes management systems to be implemented in 6 primary care practices on the West Side of Manhattan, a standard system and an enhanced system. The standard system includes screening for diabetes. The enhanced system includes screening and ensures close patient follow-up; it applies principles of the chronic care model, including community–clinic linkages, to the management of patients newly diagnosed with diabetes and prediabetes through screening. We will stagger implementation of the enhanced system across the 6 clinics allowing comparison, through a quasi-experimental design (pre–post difference with a control group), of patients treated in the enhanced system with similar patients treated in the standard system. The findings could inform health system practices at multiple levels and influence the integration of community resources into routine diabetes care

Biventricular adaptation to volume overload in mice with aortic regurgitation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Aortic valve regurgitation is usually caused by impaired coaptation of the aortic valve cusps during diastole. Hypercholesterolemia produces aortic valve lipid deposition, fibrosis, and calcification in both mice and humans, which could impair coaptation of cusps. However, a link between hypercholesterolemia and aortic regurgitation has not been established in either species. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of aortic regurgitation in hypercholesterolemic mice and to determine its impact on the left and right ventricles.</p> <p>Methods and Results</p> <p>Eighty <it>Ldlr</it>^-/-/<it>Apob</it>^100/100/<it>Mttp</it>^fl/fl/Mx1Cre^+/+("Reversa") hypercholesterolemic mice and 40 control mice were screened for aortic regurgitation (AR) with magnetic resonance imaging at age 7.5 months. The prevalence of AR was 40% in Reversa mice, with moderate or severe regurgitation (AR⁺) in 19% of mice. In control mice, AR prevalence was 13% (p = 0.004 <it>vs</it>. Reversa), and was invariably trace or mild in severity. In-depth evaluation of cardiac response to volume overload was performed in 12 AR-positive and 12 AR-negative Reversa mice. Regurgitant fraction was 0.34 ± 0.04 in AR-positive <it>vs</it>. 0.02 ± 0.01 in AR-negative (mean ± SE; p < 0.001). AR-positive mice had significantly increased left ventricular end-diastolic volume and mass and reduced ejection fraction in both ventricles. When left ventricular ejection fraction fell below 0.60 in AR-positive (<it>n </it>= 7) mice, remodeling occurred and right ventricular systolic function progressively worsened.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Hypercholesterolemia causes aortic valve regurgitation with moderate prevalence in mice. When present, aortic valve regurgitation causes volume overload and pathological remodeling of both ventricles.</p

The influence of completing a health-related questionnaire on primary care consultation behaviour

BACKGROUND: Surveys of the population are commonly used to obtain information on health status. Increasingly, researchers are linking self-reported health status information to primary care consultation data. However, it is not known how participating in a health-related survey affects consultation behaviour. The objective of this study was to assess whether completion of a health-related questionnaire changes primary care consultation behaviour. METHODS: Participants were 3402 adults aged 50 and over from the general population in North Staffordshire, UK, who completed a health-related postal survey received in April 2003. The survey was predominantly about occurrence and severity of knee pain in the last year. Primary care attendance for the three months following response was compared to three control periods: i) the three months prior to the survey, ii) the same time period in the previous year and iii) the same time period in the following year. Comparisons were made on consultations for any problem, consultations for musculoskeletal disorders and consultations for knee problems. RESULTS: The percentage of subjects consulting for any condition was marginally higher for the three months directly after receipt of the questionnaire but the difference was only statistically significant in comparison to the three months before the survey (64% v. 62%, p = 0.05). There was little difference in consultation prevalence for musculoskeletal problems immediately after the survey compared to the three control periods. There was an increase of 37% in knee disorder consultations for the three months after the survey compared to the three months directly before the survey (p = 0.02). However, consultation prevalence for knee problems was identical for the three months after the survey to the same time periods in the years prior to and following the survey (both p = 0.94). CONCLUSION: The results from this study suggests that questionnaires related to physical health do not affect the standard consulting behaviour of patients, even for the symptom under investigation. This should reassure researchers who wish to link self-reported health status and medical care utilisation and clinicians whose patients are involved in such research

Multitrophic enemy escape of invasive Phragmites australis and its introduced herbivores in North America

© 2015, Springer International Publishing Switzerland. One explanation for why invasive species are successful is that they escape natural enemies from their native range or experience lower attack from natural enemies in the introduced range relative to native species (i.e., the enemy-release hypothesis). However, little is known about how invasive plants interact with co-introduced herbivores or natural enemies of the introduced herbivores. We focus on Phragmites australis, a wetland grass native to Europe (EU) and North America (NA). Within the past 100–150 years, invasive European genotypes of P. australis and several species of specialist Lipara gall flies have spread within NA. On both continents we surveyed P. australis patches for Lipara infestation (proportion of stems infested) and Lipara mortality from natural enemies. Our objectives were to assess evidence for enemy-release in the invaded (NA) versus native (EU) range and whether Lipara infestation or mortality differed between invasive and native P. australis genotypes in NA. Enemy-release varied regionally; Lipara were absent throughout most of NA, supporting enemy-release of Phragmites. However, where Lipara were present, the proportion of invasive P. australis stems infested with Lipara was higher in the introduced (11 %) than native range (\u3c1 \u3e%). This difference may be explained by the absence of Lipara parasitoids in our NA survey, strongly supporting enemy-release of Lipara. In NA, native P. australis genotypes exhibited higher Lipara infestation (32 %) than invasive genotypes (11 %), largely driven by L. rufitarsis. We attribute genotypic differences in infestation to a combination of Lipara exhibiting 34 % greater performance (gall diameter) and suffering four times less vertebrate predation on native than invasive genotypes. Our study suggests that complex interactions can result from the co-introduction of plants and their herbivores, and that a multitrophic perspective is required for investigating how biotic interactions influence invasion success

New Antarctic gravity anomaly grid for enhanced geodetic and geophysical studies in Antarctica

Gravity surveying is challenging in Antarctica because of its hostile environment and inaccessibility. Nevertheless, many ground-based, airborne, and shipborne gravity campaigns have been completed by the geophysical and geodetic communities since the 1980s. We present the first modern Antarctic-wide gravity data compilation derived from 13 million data points covering an area of 10 million km2, which corresponds to 73% coverage of the continent. The remove-compute-restore technique was applied for gridding, which facilitated leveling of the different gravity data sets with respect to an Earth gravity model derived from satellite data alone. The resulting free-air and Bouguer gravity anomaly grids of 10 km resolution are publicly available. These grids will enable new high-resolution combined Earth gravity models to be derived and represent a major step forward toward solving the geodetic polar data gap problem. They provide a new tool to investigate continental-scale lithospheric structure and geological evolution of Antarctica

Evaluating Effects of Divided Hemispheric Processing on Word Recognition in Foveal and Extrafoveal Displays: The Evidence from Arabic

Background: Previous studies have claimed that a precise split at the vertical midline of each fovea causes all words to the left and right of fixation to project to the opposite, contralateral hemisphere, and this division in hemispheric processing has considerable consequences for foveal word recognition. However, research in this area is dominated by the use of stimuli from Latinate languages, which may induce specific effects on performance. Consequently, we report two experiments using stimuli from a fundamentally different, non-Latinate language (Arabic) that offers an alternative way of revealing effects of split-foveal processing, if they exist. Methods and Findings: Words (and pseudowords) were presented to the left or right of fixation, either close to fixation and entirely within foveal vision, or further from fixation and entirely within extrafoveal vision. Fixation location and stimulus presentations were carefully controlled using an eye-tracker linked to a fixation-contingent display. To assess word recognition, Experiment 1 used the Reicher-Wheeler task and Experiment 2 used the lexical decision task. Results: Performance in both experiments indicated a functional division in hemispheric processing for words in extrafoveal locations (in recognition accuracy in Experiment 1 and in reaction times and error rates in Experiment 2) but no such division for words in foveal locations. Conclusions: These findings from a non-Latinate language provide new evidence that although a functional division i

Inferring Ice Fabric From Birefringence Loss in Airborne Radargrams: Application to the Eastern Shear Margin of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica

Abstract: In airborne radargrams, undulating periodic patterns in amplitude that overprint traditional radiostratigraphic layering are occasionally observed, however, they have yet to be analyzed from a geophysical or glaciological perspective. We present evidence supported by theory that these depth‐periodic patterns are consistent with a modulation of the received radar power due to the birefringence of polar ice, and therefore indicate the presence of bulk fabric anisotropy. Here, we investigate the periodic component of birefringence‐induced radar power recorded in airborne radar data at the eastern shear margin of Thwaites Glacier and quantify the lateral variation in azimuthal fabric strength across this margin. We find the depth variability of birefringence periodicity crossing the shear margin to be a visual expression of its shear state and its development, which appears consistent with present‐day ice deformation. The morphology of the birefringent patterns is centered at the location of maximum shear and observed in all cross‐margin profiles, consistent with predictions of ice fabric when subjected to simple shear. The englacial fabric appears stronger inside the ice stream than outward of the shear margin. The detection of birefringent periodicity from non‐polarimetric radargrams presents a novel use of subsurface radar to constrain lateral variations in fabric strength, locate present and past shear margins, and characterize the deformation history of polar ice sheets