Severe multidirectional instability of the gleno-humeral joint

The article presents a case study of a 22 year-old female college athlete with multidirectional instability (MDI) of the glen-humeral (GH) joint. The athlete participated in overhead sports activities such as softball, basketball and swimming, and her presenting symptoms included decreased function, crepitus and spontaneous subluxation. Clinical management and range of motion (ROM) measurement are also discussed

Unrelated Helpers in a Primitively Eusocial Wasp: Is Helping Tailored Towards Direct Fitness?

The paper wasp Polistes dominulus is unique among the social insects in that nearly one-third of co-foundresses are completely unrelated to the dominant individual whose offspring they help to rear and yet reproductive skew is high. These unrelated subordinates stand to gain direct fitness through nest inheritance, raising the question of whether their behaviour is adaptively tailored towards maximizing inheritance prospects. Unusually, in this species, a wealth of theory and empirical data allows us to predict how unrelated subordinates should behave. Based on these predictions, here we compare helping in subordinates that are unrelated or related to the dominant wasp across an extensive range of field-based behavioural contexts. We find no differences in foraging effort, defense behaviour, aggression or inheritance rank between unrelated helpers and their related counterparts. Our study provides no evidence, across a number of behavioural scenarios, that the behaviour of unrelated subordinates is adaptively modified to promote direct fitness interests

Seasonal Dependence of SMAP Radiometer-Based Soil Moisture Performance as Observed over Core Validation Sites

The NASA SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) mission provides a global coverage of soil moisture measurements based on its L-band microwave radiometer every 2-3 days at about 40 km resolution. The soil moisture retrieval algorithms model the brightness temperature as a function of soil moisture, surface conditions and vegetation. External data sources inform the algorithms about the surface conditions and vegetation, which enable the retrieval of soil moisture. The inversion process contains uncertainties related to radiometer measurements, forward model assumptions and ancillary data sources. This study focuses on the uncertainties that depend on the seasonal evolution of the surface conditions and vegetation. This study compares the SMAP and core validation site (CVS) soil moisture values over a period of three years to extract the evolution of performance metrics over time. The analysis showed that most CVS that include managed agriculture exhibit significant time-dependent seasonal bias. This bias was linked to seasonal temperature cycle, which is a proxy to several features that can cause seasonally dependent errors in the SMAP product

Human Visfatin Expression: Relationship to Insulin Sensitivity, Intramyocellular Lipids, and Inflammation

Context: Visfatin (VF) is a recently described adipokine preferentially secreted by visceral adipose tissue (VAT) with insulin mimetic properties. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the association of VF with insulin sensitivity, intramyocellular lipids (IMCL), and inflammation in humans. Design and Patients: VF mRNA was examined in paired samples of VAT and abdominal sc adipose tissue (SAT) obtained from subjects undergoing surgery. Plasma VF and VF mRNA was also examined in SAT and muscle tissue, obtained by biopsy from well-characterized subjects with normal or impaired glucose tolerance, with a wide range in body mass index (BMI) and insulin sensitivity (SI). Setting: The study was conducted at a University Hospital and General Clinical Research Center. Intervention: SI was measured, and fat and muscle biopsies were performed. In impaired glucose tolerance subjects, these procedures were performed before and after treatment with pioglitazone or metformin. Main Outcome Measures: We measured the relationship between VF and obesity, SI, adipose tissue inflammation, IMCL, and response to insulin sensitizers. Results: No significant difference in VF mRNA was seen between SAT and VAT depots. VAT VF mRNA associated positively with BMI, whereas SAT VF mRNA decreased with BMI. SAT VF correlated positively with SI, and the association of SAT VF mRNA with SI was independent of BMI. IMCL and markers of inflammation (adipose CD68 and plasma TNFα) were negatively associated with SAT VF. Impaired glucose tolerance subjects treated with pioglitazone showed no change in SAT VF mRNA despite a significant increase in SI. Plasma VF and muscle VF mRNA did not correlate with BMI or SI or IMCL, and there was no change in muscle VF with either pioglitazone or metformin treatments. Conclusion: SAT VF is highly expressed in lean, more insulinsensitive subjects and is attenuated in subjects with high IMCL, low SI, and high levels of inflammatory markers. VAT VF and SAT VF are regulated oppositely with BMI

Retinol Binding Protein 4 Expression in Humans: Relationship to Insulin Resistance, Inflammation, and Response to Pioglitazone

Context: Retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) was recently found to be expressed and secreted by adipose tissue, and was strongly associated with insulin resistance. Objective: The aim was to determine the relationship between RBP4 and obesity, insulin resistance, and other markers of insulin resistance in humans. Design and Patients: RBP4 mRNA levels in adipose tissue and muscle of nondiabetic human subjects with either normal or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) were studied, along with plasma RBP4. RBP4 gene expression was also measured in adipose tissue fractions, and from visceral and sc adipose tissue (SAT) from surgical patients. Setting: The study was conducted at University Hospital and General Clinical Research Center. Intervention: Insulin sensitivity (SI) was measured, and fat and muscle biopsies were performed. In IGT subjects, these procedures were performed before and after treatment with metformin or pioglitazone. Main Outcome Measures: The relationship between RBP4 expression and obesity, SI, adipose tissue inflammation, and intramyocellular lipid level, and response to insulin sensitizers was measured. Results: RBP4 was expressed predominantly from the adipocyte fraction of SAT. Although SAT RBP4 expression and the plasma RBP4 level demonstrated no significant relationship with body mass index or SI, there was a strong positive correlation between RBP4 mRNA and adipose inflammation (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and CD68), and glucose transporter 4 mRNA. Treatment of IGT subjects with pioglitazone resulted in an increase in SI and an increase in RBP4 gene expression in both adipose tissue and muscle, but not in plasma RBP4 level, and the in vitro treatment of cultured adipocytes with pioglitazone yielded a similar increase in RBP4 mRNA. Conclusions: RBP4 gene expression in humans is associated with inflammatory markers, but not with insulin resistance. The increase in RBP4 mRNA after pioglitazone treatment is unusual, suggesting a complex regulation of this novel adipokine

GCOM-W AMSR2 Soil Moisture Product Validation Using Core Validation Sites

The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) is part of the Global Change Observation Mission-Water (GCOM-W). AMSR2 has filled the gap in passive microwave observations left by the loss of the Advanced Microwave Scanning RadiometerEarth Observing System (AMSR-E) after almost 10 years of observations. Both missions provide brightness temperature observations that are used to retrieve soil moisture estimates at the near surface. A merged AMSR-E and AMSR2 data product will help build a consistent long-term dataset; however, before this can be done, it is necessary to conduct a thorough validation and assessment of the AMSR2 soil moisture products. This study focuses on the validation of the AMSR2 soil moisture products by comparison with in situ reference data from a set of core validation sites around the world. A total of three soil moisture products that rely on different algorithms were evaluated; the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) soil moisture algorithm, the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM), and the Single Channel Algorithm (SCA). JAXA, SCA and LPRM soil moisture estimates capture the overall climatological features. The spatial features of the three products have similar overall spatial structure. The JAXA soil moisture product shows a lower dynamic range in the retrieved soil moisture with a satisfactory performance matrix when compared to in situ observations (ubRMSE0.059 m3m3, Bias-0.083 m3m3, R0.465). The SCA performs well over low and moderately vegetated areas (ubRMSE0.053 m3m3, Bias-0.039 m3m3, R0.549). The LPRM product has a large dynamic range compared to in situ observations with a wet bias (ubRMSE0.094 m3m3, Bias0.091 m3m3, R0.577). Some of the error is due to the difference in observation depth between the in situ sensors (5 cm) and satellite estimates (1 cm). Results indicate that overall the JAXA and SCA have the best performance based upon the metrics considered

Anthropogenic Space Weather

Anthropogenic effects on the space environment started in the late 19th century and reached their peak in the 1960s when high-altitude nuclear explosions were carried out by the USA and the Soviet Union. These explosions created artificial radiation belts near Earth that resulted in major damages to several satellites. Another, unexpected impact of the high-altitude nuclear tests was the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that can have devastating effects over a large geographic area (as large as the continental United States). Other anthropogenic impacts on the space environment include chemical release ex- periments, high-frequency wave heating of the ionosphere and the interaction of VLF waves with the radiation belts. This paper reviews the fundamental physical process behind these phenomena and discusses the observations of their impacts.Comment: 71 pages, 35 figure