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A Brief Consideration of the Later Prehistoric Appearance and Possible Significance of the Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) in the Covesea Caves of North-East Scotland
YesThis Short Note describes the distribution and composition of the great auk assemblage found within the Covesea Caves, and discusses its significance.Glasgow Natural History Society Professor Blodwen Lloyd Binns Bequest, the Prehistoric Society, and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Historic Environment Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council
Studies of Diffuse Interstellar Bands. V. Pairwise Correlations of Eight Strong DIBs and Neutral Hydrogen, Molecular Hydrogen, and Color Excess
We establish correlations between equivalent widths of eight diffuse
interstellar bands (DIBs), and examine their correlations with atomic hydrogen,
molecular hydrogen, and EB-V . The DIBs are centered at \lambda\lambda 5780.5,
6204.5, 6283.8, 6196.0, 6613.6, 5705.1, 5797.1, and 5487.7, in decreasing order
of Pearson\^as correlation coefficient with N(H) (here defined as the column
density of neutral hydrogen), ranging from 0.96 to 0.82. We find the equivalent
width of \lambda 5780.5 is better correlated with column densities of H than
with E(B-V) or H2, confirming earlier results based on smaller datasets. We
show the same is true for six of the seven other DIBs presented here. Despite
this similarity, the eight strong DIBs chosen are not well enough correlated
with each other to suggest they come from the same carrier. We further conclude
that these eight DIBs are more likely to be associated with H than with H2, and
hence are not preferentially located in the densest, most UV shielded parts of
interstellar clouds. We suggest they arise from different molecules found in
diffuse H regions with very little H (molecular fraction f<0.01). Of the 133
stars with available data in our study, there are three with significantly
weaker \lambda 5780.5 than our mean H-5780.5 relationship, all of which are in
regions of high radiation fields, as previously noted by Herbig. The
correlations will be useful in deriving interstellar parameters when direct
methods are not available. For instance, with care, the value of N(H) can be
derived from W{\lambda}(5780.5).Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal; 37 pages, 11
figures, 6 table
Prostatic Acid Phosphatase Is Required for the Antinociceptive Effects of Thiamine and Benfotiamine
Peer reviewe
Prospective study design and data analysis in UK Biobank
Population-based prospective studies, such as UK Biobank, are valuable for generating and testing hypotheses about the potential causes of human disease. We describe how UK Biobank's study design, data access policies, and approaches to statistical analysis can help to minimize error and improve the interpretability of research findings, with implications for other population-based prospective studies being established worldwide.</p
Quantifying Risk Factors for Human Brucellosis in Rural Northern Tanzania
Brucellosis is a zoonosis of veterinary, public health and economic significance in most developing countries. Human brucellosis is a severely debilitating disease that requires prolonged treatment with a combination of antibiotics. The disease can result in permanent and disabling sequel, and results in considerable medical expenses in addition to loss of income due to loss of working hours. A study was conducted in Northern Tanzania to determine the risk factors for transmission of brucellosis to humans in Tanzania. This was a matched case-control study. Any patient with a positive result by a competitive ELISA (c-ELISA) test for brucellosis, and presenting to selected hospitals with at least two clinical features suggestive of brucellosis such as headache, recurrent or continuous fever, sweating, joint pain, joint swelling, general body malaise or backache, was defined as a case. For every case in a district, a corresponding control was traced and matched by sex using multistage cluster sampling. Other criteria for inclusion as a control included a negative c-ELISA test result and that the matched individual would present to hospital if falls sick. Multivariable analysis showed that brucellosis was associated with assisted parturition during abortion in cattle, sheep or goat. It was shown that individuals living in close proximity to other households had a higher risk of brucellosis. People who were of Christian religion were found to have a higher risk of brucellosis compared to other religions. The study concludes that assisting an aborting animal, proximity to neighborhoods, and Christianity were associated with brucellosis infection. There was no association between human brucellosis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) serostatus. Protecting humans against contact with fluids and tissues during assisted parturition of livestock may be an important means of reducing the risk of transferring brucellosis from livestock to humans. These can be achieved through health education to the communities where brucellosis is common
Telomeres are shorter in myocardial infarction patients compared to healthy subjects: correlation with environmental risk factors
Shorter telomeres have been reported in premature myocardial infarction (MI) patients. Our work aimed at confirming the association of shorter telomere with MI in two case–control studies and in familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). The HIFMECH study compared 598 white male patients (<60 years) who survived a first MI and 653 age-matched controls from North and South Europe. Additionally, from the UK, 413 coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients and two groups of 367 and 94 FH patients, of whom 145 and 17 respectively had premature CHD, were recruited. Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) was measured using a real-time polymerase chain reaction-based method. In HIFMECH, LTL was significantly shorter in subjects from the North (7.99 kb, SD 4.51) compared to the South (8.27 kb, SD 4.14; p = 0.02) and in cases (7.85 kb, SD 4.01) compared to controls (8.04 kb, SD 4.46; p = 0.04). In the CABG study, LTL was significantly shorter (6.89 kb, SD 4.14) compared to the HIFMECH UK controls (7.53, SD 5.29; p = 0.007). In both samples of FH patients, LTL was shorter in those with CHD (overall 8.68 kb, SD 4.65) compared to the non-CHD subjects (9.23 kb, SD 4.83; p = 0.012). Apart from a consistent negative correlation with age, LTL was not associated across studies with any measured CHD risk factors. The present data confirms that subjects with CHD have shorter telomeres than controls and extends this to those with monogenic and polygenic forms of CHD
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