Uric acid: an old actor for a new role

The role of uric acid as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events is still debated. In fact, other confounding factors such as glucose intolerance, obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, use of diuretics and insulin resistance may play a role in determining the increased vascular risk associated to elevated uric acid concentrations. These factors (including high uric acid) have been mentioned in one or more definitions of the metabolic syndrome. Recently, much attention has been paid to the metabolic syndrome due to its possible role as a risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The worldwide increase in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes is a reason not only for the increasing prevalence of the metabolic syndrome but also of hyperuricaemia. A better understanding of the role of uric acid in health and in disease states may help physicians to improve their performance in preventing and treating cardiovascular disease

Sub-terahertz, microwaves and high energy emissions during the December 6, 2006 flare, at 18:40 UT

The presence of a solar burst spectral component with flux density increasing with frequency in the sub-terahertz range, spectrally separated from the well-known microwave spectral component, bring new possibilities to explore the flaring physical processes, both observational and theoretical. The solar event of 6 December 2006, starting at about 18:30 UT, exhibited a particularly well-defined double spectral structure, with the sub-THz spectral component detected at 212 and 405 GHz by SST and microwaves (1-18 GHz) observed by the Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA). Emissions obtained by instruments in satellites are discussed with emphasis to ultra-violet (UV) obtained by the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer (TRACE), soft X-rays from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and X- and gamma-rays from the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). The sub-THz impulsive component had its closer temporal counterpart only in the higher energy X- and gamma-rays ranges. The spatial positions of the centers of emission at 212 GHz for the first flux enhancement were clearly displaced by more than one arc-minute from positions at the following phases. The observed sub-THz fluxes and burst source plasma parameters were found difficult to be reconciled to a purely thermal emission component. We discuss possible mechanisms to explain the double spectral components at microwaves and in the THz ranges.Comment: Accepted version for publication in Solar Physic

Allan Sandage and the Cosmic Expansion

This is an account of Allan Sandage's work on (1) The character of the expansion field. For many years he has been the strongest defender of an expanding Universe. He later explained the CMB dipole by a local velocity of 220 +/- 50 km/s toward the Virgo cluster and by a bulk motion of the Local supercluster (extending out to ~3500 km/s) of 450-500 km/s toward an apex at l=275, b=12. Allowing for these streaming velocities he found linear expansion to hold down to local scales (~300 km/s). (2) The calibration of the Hubble constant. Probing different methods he finally adopted - from Cepheid-calibrated SNe Ia and from independent RR Lyr-calibrated TRGBs - H_0 = 62.3 +/- 1.3 +/- 5.0 km/s/Mpc.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, Submitted to Astrophysics and Space Science, Special Issue on the Fundamental Cosmic Distance Scale in the Gaia Er

A review of diagnostic and functional imaging in headache

The neuroimaging of headache patients has revolutionised our understanding of the pathophysiology of primary headaches and provided unique insights into these syndromes. Modern imaging studies point, together with the clinical picture, towards a central triggering cause. The early functional imaging work using positron emission tomography shed light on the genesis of some syndromes, and has recently been refined, implying that the observed activation in migraine (brainstem) and in several trigeminal-autonomic headaches (hypothalamic grey) is involved in the pain process in either a permissive or triggering manner rather than simply as a response to first-division nociception per se. Using the advanced method of voxel-based morphometry, it has been suggested that there is a correlation between the brain area activated specifically in acute cluster headache — the posterior hypothalamic grey matter — and an increase in grey matter in the same region. No structural changes have been found for migraine and medication overuse headache, whereas patients with chronic tension-type headache demonstrated a significant grey matter decrease in regions known to be involved in pain processing. Modern neuroimaging thus clearly suggests that most primary headache syndromes are predominantly driven from the brain, activating the trigeminovascular reflex and needing therapeutics that act on both sides: centrally and peripherally

Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts Detected by Fermi and Swift during the LIGO-Virgo Run O3b

We search for gravitational-wave signals associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the Fermi and Swift satellites during the second half of the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo (2019 November 1 15:00 UTC-2020 March 27 17:00 UTC). We conduct two independent searches: A generic gravitational-wave transients search to analyze 86 GRBs and an analysis to target binary mergers with at least one neutron star as short GRB progenitors for 17 events. We find no significant evidence for gravitational-wave signals associated with any of these GRBs. A weighted binomial test of the combined results finds no evidence for subthreshold gravitational-wave signals associated with this GRB ensemble either. We use several source types and signal morphologies during the searches, resulting in lower bounds on the estimated distance to each GRB. Finally, we constrain the population of low-luminosity short GRBs using results from the first to the third observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. The resulting population is in accordance with the local binary neutron star merger rate. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society

Narrowband Searches for Continuous and Long-duration Transient Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars in the LIGO-Virgo Third Observing Run

Isolated neutron stars that are asymmetric with respect to their spin axis are possible sources of detectable continuous gravitational waves. This paper presents a fully coherent search for such signals from eighteen pulsars in data from LIGO and Virgo's third observing run (O3). For known pulsars, efficient and sensitive matched-filter searches can be carried out if one assumes the gravitational radiation is phase-locked to the electromagnetic emission. In the search presented here, we relax this assumption and allow both the frequency and the time derivative of the frequency of the gravitational waves to vary in a small range around those inferred from electromagnetic observations. We find no evidence for continuous gravitational waves, and set upper limits on the strain amplitude for each target. These limits are more constraining for seven of the targets than the spin-down limit defined by ascribing all rotational energy loss to gravitational radiation. In an additional search, we look in O3 data for long-duration (hours-months) transient gravitational waves in the aftermath of pulsar glitches for six targets with a total of nine glitches. We report two marginal outliers from this search, but find no clear evidence for such emission either. The resulting duration-dependent strain upper limits do not surpass indirect energy constraints for any of these targets. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society

ϒ production in p–Pb collisions at √sNN=8.16 TeV

ϒ production in p–Pb interactions is studied at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon collision √sNN = 8.16 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. The measurement is performed reconstructing bottomonium resonances via their dimuon decay channel, in the centre-of-mass rapidity intervals 2.03 < ycms < 3.53 and −4.46 < ycms < −2.96, down to zero transverse momentum. In this work, results on the ϒ(1S) production cross section as a function of rapidity and transverse momentum are presented. The corresponding nuclear modification factor shows a suppression of the ϒ(1S) yields with respect to pp collisions, both at forward and backward rapidity. This suppression is stronger in the low transverse momentum region and shows no significant dependence on the centrality of the interactions. Furthermore, the ϒ(2S) nuclear modification factor is evaluated, suggesting a suppression similar to that of the ϒ(1S). A first measurement of the ϒ(3S) has also been performed. Finally, results are compared with previous ALICE measurements in p–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV and with theoretical calculations.publishedVersio

(Anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions at 1as=13TeV

The study of (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions has proven to be a powerful tool to investigate the formation mechanism of loosely bound states in high-energy hadronic collisions. In this paper the production of (anti-)deuterons is studied as a function of the charged particle multiplicity in inelastic pp collisions at s=13 TeV using the ALICE experiment. Thanks to the large number of accumulated minimum bias events, it has been possible to measure (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions up to the same charged particle multiplicity (d Nch/ d \u3b7 3c 26) as measured in p\u2013Pb collisions at similar centre-of-mass energies. Within the uncertainties, the deuteron yield in pp collisions resembles the one in p\u2013Pb interactions, suggesting a common formation mechanism behind the production of light nuclei in hadronic interactions. In this context the measurements are compared with the expectations of coalescence and statistical hadronisation models (SHM)

Multiplicity dependence of inclusive J/psi production at midrapidity in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV

Measurements of the inclusive J/psi yield as a function of charged-particle pseudorapidity density dN(ch)/d eta in pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV with ALICE at the LHC are reported. The J/psi meson yield is measured at midrapidity (vertical bar y vertical bar <0.9) in the dielectron channel, for events selected based on the charged-particle multiplicity at midrapidity (vertical bar eta vertical bar <1) and at forward rapidity (-3.7 <eta <-1.7 and 2.8 <eta <5.1); both observables are normalized to their corresponding averages in minimum bias events. The increase of the normalized J/psi yield with normalized dN(ch)/d eta is significantly stronger than linear and dependent on the transverse momentum. The data are compared to theoretical predictions, which describe the observed trends well, albeit not always quantitatively. (C) 2020 European Organization for Nuclear Research. Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

The Cholecystectomy As A Day Case (CAAD) Score: A Validated Score of Preoperative Predictors of Successful Day-Case Cholecystectomy Using the CholeS Data Set

Background Day-case surgery is associated with significant patient and cost benefits. However, only 43% of cholecystectomy patients are discharged home the same day. One hypothesis is day-case cholecystectomy rates, defined as patients discharged the same day as their operation, may be improved by better assessment of patients using standard preoperative variables. Methods Data were extracted from a prospectively collected data set of cholecystectomy patients from 166 UK and Irish hospitals (CholeS). Cholecystectomies performed as elective procedures were divided into main (75%) and validation (25%) data sets. Preoperative predictors were identified, and a risk score of failed day case was devised using multivariate logistic regression. Receiver operating curve analysis was used to validate the score in the validation data set. Results Of the 7426 elective cholecystectomies performed, 49% of these were discharged home the same day. Same-day discharge following cholecystectomy was less likely with older patients (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), higher ASA scores (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), complicated cholelithiasis (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.48), male gender (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.58–0.74), previous acute gallstone-related admissions (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.48–0.60) and preoperative endoscopic intervention (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.34–0.47). The CAAD score was developed using these variables. When applied to the validation subgroup, a CAAD score of ≤5 was associated with 80.8% successful day-case cholecystectomy compared with 19.2% associated with a CAAD score >5 (p < 0.001). Conclusions The CAAD score which utilises data readily available from clinic letters and electronic sources can predict same-day discharges following cholecystectomy