Abundance analysis of a nitrogen-rich extreme-helium hot subdwarf from the SALT survey

We have performed a detailed spectral analysis of the helium-rich hot subdwarf EC 20187-4939 using data obtained in the SALT survey of helium-rich hot subdwarfs. We have measured its effective temperature, surface gravity and chemical abundances from the spectrum. Its radius has also been determined by fitting the spectral energy distribution using photometric data, from which a mass of 0.44 Msun has been inferred using the measurement of surface gravity. This star is particularly abundant in helium and nitrogen, whilst being both carbon and oxygen-weak. The surface abundances and mass have been found to be consistent with a helium white dwarf merger product. The abundance effects of alpha captures on nitrogen during the merger process and possible connections between EC 20187-4939 and other carbon-weak related objects are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA

Analysis of Mandibular Fractures Caused by Work Related Accidents. Retrospective Descriptive Study

Indexación: Web of Science; Scielo.El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la tendencia de los pacientes con fracturas mandibulares asociados a accidentes laborales. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo retrospectivo en todos los casos de fracturas mandibulares que asistieron al servicio de cirugía maxilofacial del Hospital Clínico Mutual de Seguridad C.Ch.C., Santiago de Chile en un periodo de 4 años (enero 2009 - diciembre 2012). Todas las fracturas mandibulares fueron consignadas. La información fue recopilada a través de revisión de fichas clínicas electrónicas. Entre los años 2009 al 2012 se presentaron un total de 74 pacientes incluidos en el estudio con 102 rasgos de fracturas mandibulares. La fractura más común fue la de cóndilo mandibular (35 pacientes). Se observó una tasa de complicaciones del 8%. Los resultados mostrados en este estudio están en línea con la literatura y el análisis de este reporte provee información para el diseño de planes de prevención de riesgos, especialmente para desarrollar medidas de protección facial. Nivel de Evidencia: Tipo II. Estudio descriptivo.ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to evaluate the tendency of patients with mandibular fractures associated with working accidents. A retrospective descriptive study was performed in all cases of mandibular fractures who attended the maxillofacial surgery service at the Clinical Hospital Mutual Seguridad C.CH.C. Santiago de Chile, in a 4-year period (January 2009 - December 2012). All mandibular fractures were recorded. The information was collected through review of electronic medical records. Between 2009 and 2012, 74 patients were included in the study with 102 lines of mandibular fractures. The most common fracture was the mandibular condyle (35 patients). The complication rate was 8%. The results shown in this study are in line with the literature and the analysis of this report provides information for the design of risk prevention plans, especially in developing measures of facial protection.http://ref.scielo.org/p5w48

Effects of Band-Resisted Abduction on Muscle Activity between the Barbell Hip Thrust and Barbell Glute Bridge

The importance of hip extensor and abductor muscles for sport performance and injury reduction is well-documented. To target these muscle groups, the barbell hip thrust and barbell glute bridge are used to load the posterior kinetic chain while band-resisted abduction exercises, like band-resisted side stepping, target the lateral kinetic chain. However, combining band-resisted hip abduction with barbell hip-extension dominant exercises has not yet been investigated. In this study, ten male subjects underwent a two-part research protocol with surface electromyography (sEMG) measured during a 5-repetition maximum (5-RM) load performance to determine differences in peak and mean muscular activity between band-resisted barbell hip thrust (BBHT) and barbell hip thrust (BHT), and between band-resisted barbell glute bridge (BBGB) and barbell glute bridge (BGB). The results indicated three significant differences between the pairs, with both banded conditions eliciting greater sEMG activity in the Upper Gluteus Maximus compared to non-banded conditions. However, BGB unexpectedly elicited greater sEMG activity in the Gluteus Medius compared to BBGB. The differences in muscle activity could potentially be explained by reciprocal inhibition and synergistic dominance. Further research is needed to make definitive statements on the superiority of band-resisted barbell exercises over non-banded barbell exercises and transferability to sport performance

Effects of Sponge Encrustation on the Swimming Behaviour, Energetics and Morphometry of the Scallop Chlamys Hastata

The effect of sponge encrustation on swimming ability of Chlamys hastata was determined by investigating swimming behaviour, scallop morphometry, and energy expended during swimming with and without commensal epibionts. Scallops swam significantly longer after sponge encrustation was removed from their shells, but no significant differences were detected in swimming elevation or distance. Scallops with sponge encrustation showed no adductor muscle hypertrophy or changes in shell morphometry compared to scallops without encrustation. However, C. hastatadid exhibit scaling relationships associated with maximizing swimming efficiency. Specifically, shell width and adductor muscle mass were positively allometric with shell height, while shell mass was negatively allometric with shell height. Scallops increased their energy expenditure (both aerobic and anaerobic) during valve-clapping, but no significant difference was detected between unencrusted (43·0 μmol adenosine triphosphate [ATP] consumed during a two min escape swim) and sponge-encrusted (40·0 μmol ATP) scallops. Scallops in both treatments derived 86% of the energy used for swimming from anaerobic sources. The lack of substantial differences between scallops with and without commensal sponges is partially explained by the observation that even heavy sponge encrustation increases the immersed weight of the scallop by only 5%. The presence of a sponge encrustation does not appear to inhibit swimming by this scallop species

Underestimated Ammonia Emissions from Road Vehicles

In this study, we use comprehensive vehicle emission remote sensing measurements of over 230,000 passenger cars to estimate total UK ammonia (NH3) emissions. Estimates are made using "top-down"and "bottom-up"methods that demonstrate good agreement to within 1.1% for total fuel consumed or CO2 emitted. A central component of this study is the comprehensive nature of the bottom-up emission estimates that combine highly detailed remote sensing emission data with over 4000 km of 1 Hz real driving data. Total annual UK NH3 emissions from gasoline passenger cars are estimated to be 7.8 ± 0.3 kt from the bottom-up estimate compared with 3.0 ± 1.7 kt reported by the UK national inventory. An important conclusion from the analysis is that both methodologies confirm that gasoline passenger car NH3 emissions are underestimated by a factor of about 2.6 compared with the 2018 UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory. Furthermore, we find that inventory estimates of urban emissions of NH3 for passenger cars are underestimated by a factor of 17

Characterisation of ammonia emissions from gasoline and gasoline hybrid passenger cars

Recent evidence suggests NH3 emissions from road vehicles play an important role in the formation of fine particulate matter, especially in urban areas. However, there is little data available for NH3 emitted from road vehicles under real driving conditions, in part due to its lack of regulation in vehicle emission legislation. In this study, we use 210,000 vehicle emission remote sensing measurements to evaluate the complex mix of factors affecting NH3 emissions from gasoline and gasoline hybrid passenger cars. The influence of vehicle model year and manufacturer on NH3 emissions is considered, as well as the effect of vehicle deterioration. It is found that the amount of NH3 emitted increases as vehicle mileage increases. A comparison of cold start and hot exhaust NH3 emissions reveals that on average, cold start emissions are a factor of 1.7 times higher. New NH3 emission factors are developed, in addition to speed-emission curves that are potentially useful for national inventories. A new application of remote sensing data is reported, whereby the proportion of failed CO2 measurements for hybrid vehicles provides unique insight into the real world battery use of both conventional hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, which is used to refine the NH3 emission factors for these vehicles

Increased autocrine interleukin-6 production is significantly associated with worse clinical outcome in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) remains incurable with current standard therapy. We have previously reported that an increased expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor CD126 leads to resistance of CLL cells to chemotherapy and worse prognosis for patients with CLL. In this study, we determine whether autocrine IL-6 production by CLL B cells is associated with poor clinical outcome and explore IL-6-mediated survival mechanism in primary CLL cells. Our results demonstrate that higher levels of autocrine IL-6 are significantly associated with shorter absolute lymphocyte doubling time, patients received treatment, without complete remission, advanced Binet stages, 17p/11q deletion, and shorter time to first time treatment and progression-free survival. IL-6 activated both STAT3 and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) in primary CLL cells. Blocking IL-6 receptor and JAK2 inhibited IL-6-mediated activation of STAT3 and NF-κB. Our study demonstrates that an increased autocrine IL-6 production by CLL B-cells are associated with worse clinical outcome for patients with CLL. IL-6 promotes CLL cell survival by activating both STAT3 and NF-κB through diverse signaling cascades. Neutralizing IL-6 or blocking IL-6 receptor might contribute overcoming the resistance of CLL cells to chemotherapy. We propose that the measurement of autocrine IL-6 could be a useful approach to predict clinical outcome.National Natural Science Foundation of China. Grant Numbers: 81570194, 81172109, 8157019