379 research outputs found
Chronic consumers of boiled coffee have elevated serum levels of lipoprotein(a)
OBJECTIVES: Lipoprotein(a) consists of an LDL-particle attached to apolipoprotein(a), which is made by the liver. Diterpenes present in boiled coffee raise serum levels of LDL cholesterol and of the liver enzyme alanine aminotransferase in man. We investigated the association between intake of boiled coffee and serum levels of lipoprotein(a). DESIGN, SETTING AND SUBJECTS: Healthy Norwegians 40-42 years of age, who habitually consumed five or more cups of boiled coffee per day (n = 150) were compared with matched filter coffee consumers (n = 159) in a cross-sectional study, as part of the Norwegian National Health Screening in 1992. RESULTS: The median lipoprotein(a) level was 13.0 mg dL-1 (10th and 90th percentile: 2.5 and 75.0 mg dL-1, respectively) on boiled and 7.9 mg dL-1 (10th and 90th percentile: 1.9 and 62.5 mg dL-1, respectively) on filter coffee (P = 0.048). Means /- SE were 25.8 /- 2.4 mg dL-1 and 19.6 /- 2.0 mg dL-1, respectively (P = 0.04). Although not statistically significant, subjects consuming nine or more cups of coffee per day had higher lipoprotein(a) levels than those drinking five to eight cups per day in both coffee groups. CONCLUSION: Chronic consumers of unfiltered, boiled coffee have higher serum levels of lipoprotein(a) than filter coffee drinkers
Sinh-Gordon, Cosh-Gordon and Liouville Equations for Strings and Multi-Strings in Constant Curvature Spacetimes
We find that the fundamental quadratic form of classical string propagation
in dimensional constant curvature spacetimes solves the Sinh-Gordon
equation, the Cosh-Gordon equation or the Liouville equation. We show that in
both de Sitter and anti de Sitter spacetimes (as well as in the black
hole anti de Sitter spacetime), {\it all} three equations must be included to
cover the generic string dynamics. The generic properties of the string
dynamics are directly extracted from the properties of these three equations
and their associated potentials (irrespective of any solution). These results
complete and generalize earlier discussions on this topic (until now, only the
Sinh-Gordon sector in de Sitter spacetime was known). We also construct new
classes of multi-string solutions, in terms of elliptic functions, to all three
equations in both de Sitter and anti de Sitter spacetimes. Our results can be
straightforwardly generalized to constant curvature spacetimes of arbitrary
dimension, by replacing the Sinh-Gordon equation, the Cosh-Gordon equation and
the Liouville equation by higher dimensional generalizations.Comment: Latex, 19 pages + 1 figure (not included
Constraining the period of the ringed secondary companion to the young star J1407 with photographic plates
Context. The 16 Myr old star 1SWASP J140747.93-394542.6 (V1400 Cen) underwent
a series of complex eclipses in May 2007, interpreted as the transit of a giant
Hill sphere filling debris ring system around a secondary companion, J1407b. No
other eclipses have since been detected, although other measurements have
constrained but not uniquely determined the orbital period of J1407b. Finding
another eclipse towards J1407 will help determine the orbital period of the
system, the geometry of the proposed ring system and enable planning of further
observations to characterize the material within these putative rings. Aims. We
carry out a search for other eclipses in photometric data of J1407 with the aim
of constraining the orbital period of J1407b. Methods. We present photometry
from archival photographic plates from the Harvard DASCH survey, and Bamberg
and Sonneberg Observatories, in order to place additional constraints on the
orbital period of J1407b by searching for other dimming and eclipse events.
Using a visual inspection of all 387 plates and a period-folding algorithm we
performed a search for other eclipses in these data sets. Results. We find no
other deep eclipses in the data spanning from 1890 to 1990, nor in recent
time-series photometry from 2012-2018. Conclusions. We rule out a large
fraction of putative orbital periods for J1407b from 5 to 20 years. These
limits are still marginally consistent with a large Hill sphere filling ring
system surrounding a brown dwarf companion in a bound elliptical orbit about
J1407. Issues with the stability of any rings combined with the lack of
detection of another eclipse, suggests that J1407b may not be bound to J1407.Comment: 8 pages, 3 tables, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. LaTeX
files of the paper, scripts for the figures, and a minimal working FPA can be
found under https://github.com/robinmentel/Constraining-Period
BV formulation of higher form gauge theories in a superspace
We discuss the extended BRST and anti-BRST symmetry (including shift
symmetry) in the Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) formulation for two and three form
gauge theories. Further we develop the superspace formulation for the BV
actions for these theories. We show that the extended BRST invariant BV action
for these theories can be written manifestly covariant manner in a superspace
with one Grassmann coordinate. On the hand a superspace with two Grassmann
coordinates are required for a manifestly covariant formulation of the extended
BRST and extended anti-BRST invariant BV actions for higher form gauge
theories.Comment: 30 pages, No figure, version to appear in EPJ
Synthesizing greenhouse gas fluxes across nine European peatlands and shrublands: responses to climatic and environmental changes
In this study, we compare annual fluxes of methane
(CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and soil respiratory carbon dioxide
(CO2) measured at nine European peatlands (n = 4) and
shrublands (n = 5). The sites range from northern Sweden
to Spain, covering a span in mean annual air temperature
from 0 to 16 �C, and in annual precipitation from 300 to
1300mmyr−1. The effects of climate change, including temperature
increase and prolonged drought, were tested at five
shrubland sites. At one peatland site, the long-term (>30 yr)
effect of drainage was assessed, while increased nitrogen deposition
was investigated at three peatland sites.
The shrublands were generally sinks for atmospheric CH4,
whereas the peatlands were CH4 sources, with fluxes ranging
from −519 to +6890 mgCH4-Cm−2 yr−1 across the studied
ecosystems. At the peatland sites, annual CH4 emission
increased with mean annual air temperature, while
a negative relationship was found between net CH4 uptake
and the soil carbon stock at the shrubland sites. Annual
N2O fluxes were generally small ranging from −14
to 42 mgN2O-Nm−2 yr−1. Highest N2O emission occurred
at the sites that had highest nitrate (NO−
3 ) concentration
in the soil water. Furthermore, experimentally increased
NO−
3 deposition led to increased N2O efflux, whereas prolonged
drought and long-term drainage reduced the N2O efflux.
Soil CO2 emissions in control plots ranged from 310
to 732 gCO2-Cm−2 yr−1. Drought and long-term drainage generally reduced the soil CO2 efflux, except at a hydric
shrubland where drought tended to increase soil respiration.
In terms of fractional importance of each greenhouse gas
to the total numerical global warming response, the change in
CO2 efflux dominated the response in all treatments (ranging
71–96 %), except for NO−
3 addition where 89% was due to
change in CH4 emissions. Thus, in European peatlands and
shrublands the effect on global warming induced by the investigated
anthropogenic disturbances will be dominated by
variations in soil CO2 fluxes
A systematic review of whether COVID-19 randomized controlled trials reported on demographic and clinical characteristics
Purpose: We aim to assess the reporting of key patient-level demographic and clinical characteristics among COVID-19 related randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: We queried English-language articles from PubMed, Web of Science, clinicaltrials.gov, and the CDC library of gray literature databases using keywords of “coronavirus,” “covid,” “clinical trial” and “randomized controlled trial” from January 2020 to June 2021. From the search, we conducted an initial review to rule-out duplicate entries, identify those that met inclusion criteria (i.e., had results), and exclude those that did not meet the definition of an RCT. Lastly, we abstracted the demographic and clinical characteristics reported on within each RCT. Results: From the initial 43 627 manuscripts, our final eligible manuscripts consisted of 149 RCTs described in 137 articles. Most of the RCTs (113/149) studied potential treatments, while fewer studied vaccines (29), prophylaxis strategies (5), and interventions to prevent transmission among those infected (2). Study populations ranged from 10 to 38 206 participants (median = 100, IQR: 60–300). All 149 RCTs reported on age, 147 on sex, 50 on race, and 110 on the prevalence of at least one comorbidity. No RCTs reported on income, urban versus rural residence, or other indicators of socioeconomic status (SES). Conclusions: Limited reporting on race and other markers of SES make it difficult to draw conclusions about specific external target populations without making strong assumptions that treatment effects are homogenous. These findings highlight the need for more robust reporting on the clinical and demographic profiles of patients enrolled in COVID-19 related RCTs
Slewing Mirror Telescope and the Data-Acquisition System for the UFFO-Pathfinder
The Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO) aims to detect the earliest moment of Gamma-Ray
Bursts (GRBs) which is not well known, resulting into the enhancement of GRB mechanism
understanding. The pathfinder mission was proposed to be a scaled-down version of UFFO,
and only contains the UFFO Burst Alert & Trigger Telescope (UBAT) measuring the
X-ray/gamma-ray with the wide-field of view and the Slewing Mirror Telescope (SMT) with a
rapid-response for the UV/optical photons. Once the UBAT detects a GRB candidate with the
position accuracy of 10 arcmin, the SMT steers the UV/optical photons from the candidate
to the telescope by the fast rotatable mirror and provides the early UV/optical photons
measurements with 4 arcsec accuracy. The SMT has a modified Ritchey-Chrètien telescope
with the aperture size of 10 cm diameter including the rotatable mirror and the image
readout by the intensified charge-coupled device. There is a key board called the UFFO
Data Acquisition system (UDAQ) that manages the communication of each telescope and also
of the satellite and the UFFO overall operation. This pathfinder is designed and built
within the limited size and weight of ~20 kg and the low power consumption up to
~30 W. We will discuss the design and performance of the UFFO-pathfinder, and its
integration to the Lomonosov satellite
Development of Motorized Slewing Mirror Stage for the UFFO Project
The Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO) is a space observatory for optical follow-ups of
gamma ray bursts (GRBs), aiming to explore the first 60 seconds of GRBs optical emission.
UFFO is utilized to catch early optical emissions from GRBs within few sec after trigger
using a Gimbal mirror which redirects the optical path rather than slewing entire
spacecraft. We have developed a 15 cm two-axis Gimbal mirror stage for the UFFO-Pathfinder
which is going to be on board the Lomonosov satellite which is to be launched in 2013. The
stage is designed for fast and accurate motion with given budgets of 3 kg of mass and 3
Watt of power. By employing stepping motors, the slewing mirror can rotate faster than 15
deg/sec so that objects in the UFFO coverage (60 deg × 60 deg) can be targeted in
~1 sec. The obtained targeting resolution is better 2 arcmin using a close-loop
control with high precision rotary encoder. In this presentation, we will discuss details
of design, manufacturing, space qualification tests, as well as performance tests
General and abdominal adiposity and risk of death in Europe
BACKGROUND Previous studies have relied predominantly on the body-mass index (BMI, the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) to assess the association of adiposity with the risk of death, but few have examined whether the distribution of body fat contributes to the prediction of death. METHODS We examined the association of BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio with the risk of death among 359,387 participants from nine countries in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). We used a Cox regression analysis, with age as the time variable, and stratified the models according to study center and age at recruitment, with further adjustment for educational level, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and height. RESULTS During a mean follow-up of 9.7 years, 14,723 participants died. The lowest risks of death related to BMI were observed at a BMI of 25.3 for men and 24.3 for women. After adjustment for BMI, waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio were strongly associated with the risk of death. Relative risks among men and women in the highest quintile of waist circumference were 2.05 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.80 to 2.33) and 1.78 (95% CI, 1.56 to 2.04), respectively, and in the highest quintile of waist-to-hip ratio, the relative risks were 1.68 (95% CI, 1.53 to 1.84) and 1.51 (95% CI, 1.37 to 1.66), respectively. BMI remained significantly associated with the risk of death in models that included waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that both general adiposity and abdominal adiposity are associated with the risk of death and support the use of waist circumference or waist-tohip ratio in addition to BMI in assessing the risk of death
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