Growth of the Brownian forest

Trees in Brownian excursions have been studied since the late 1980s. Forests in excursions of Brownian motion above its past minimum are a natural extension of this notion. In this paper we study a forest-valued Markov process which describes the growth of the Brownian forest. The key result is a composition rule for binary Galton--Watson forests with i.i.d. exponential branch lengths. We give elementary proofs of this composition rule and explain how it is intimately linked with Williams' decomposition for Brownian motion with drift.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/009117905000000422 in the Annals of Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aop/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Options for dust reduction from poultry houses

Large poultry houses emit high amounts of fine dust (PM10) and in many cases they exceed the ambient air quality standard set by the EU. Technologies for PM10 reduction need to be developed on short term to minimize PM10 emissions from poultry houses. Studied options for dust reduction were: application of an oil film on the litter and application of an ionization system. Rapeseed oil was sprayed daily in a quantity of 8 to 24 ml/m2 in broiler houses and 20 ml/m2 in layer houses. The ionization system was applied in a broiler house and had a voltage difference of -30kV, with a current of approximately 0.7 mA. Daily emissions of PM10 particles were determined at regular intervals by measuring concentrations at the ventilation inlet and outlet and by measuring the airflow rate. For the oil system PM10 emission reductions were in the ranges of 55 – 85% in broilers and 25 – 40% in layers. The ionization system, applied in broilers, reduced PM10 emission on average by 36%

A morphological algorithm for improving radio-frequency interference detection

A technique is described that is used to improve the detection of radio-frequency interference in astronomical radio observatories. It is applied on a two-dimensional interference mask after regular detection in the time-frequency domain with existing techniques. The scale-invariant rank (SIR) operator is defined, which is a one-dimensional mathematical morphology technique that can be used to find adjacent intervals in the time or frequency domain that are likely to be affected by RFI. The technique might also be applicable in other areas in which morphological scale-invariant behaviour is desired, such as source detection. A new algorithm is described, that is shown to perform quite well, has linear time complexity and is fast enough to be applied in modern high resolution observatories. It is used in the default pipeline of the LOFAR observatory.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

A GBT Survey of the HALOGAS Galaxies and Their Environments I: Revealing the full extent of HI around NGC891, NGC925, NGC4414 & NGC4565

We present initial results from a deep neutral hydrogen (HI) survey of the HALOGAS galaxy sample, which includes the spiral galaxies NGC891, NGC925, NGC4414, and NGC4565, performed with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The resulting observations cover at least four deg$^2$ around these galaxies with an average 5$\sigma$ detection limit of 1.2$\times$10$^{18}$ cm$^{-2}$ over a velocity range of 20 km s$^{-1}$ and angular scale of 9.1$'$. In addition to detecting the same total flux as the GBT data, the spatial distribution of the GBT and original Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) data match well at equal spatial resolutions. The HI mass fraction below HI column densities of 10$^{19}$ cm$^{-2}$ is, on average, 2\%. We discuss the possible origins of low column density HI of nearby spiral galaxies. The absence of a considerable amount of newly detected HI by the GBT indicates these galaxies do not have significant extended diffuse HI structures, and suggests future surveys planned with the SKA and its precursors must go \textit{at least} as deep as 10$^{17}$ cm$^{-2}$ in column density to significantly increase the probability of detecting HI associated with the cosmic web and/or cold mode accretion.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal; 28 pages, 15 figure

Prevalence of diabetes, metabolic syndrome and metabolic abnormalities in schizophrenia over the course of the illness: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Patients with schizophrenia are at high risk of developing metabolic abnormalities. METHOD: A prospective study focusing on metabolic disturbances in patients with schizophrenia, including an oral glucose tolerance test, is currently ongoing at our University Hospital and affiliate services. The prevalence of metabolic abnormalities at baseline was assessed in a cohort of 415 patients with schizophrenia. The sample was divided into 4 groups according to duration of illness: first-episode patients (<1.5 years), recent-onset patients (between 1.5 and 10 years), subchronic patients (between 10 and 20 years) and chronic patients (>20 years). RESULTS: Metabolic abnormalities were already present in first-episode patients, and considerably increased with increasing duration of illness. When compared to the general population matched for age and gender, much higher rates of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and diabetes were observed for patients with schizophrenia. For MetS, the increase over time was similar to that of the general population. In contrast, the difference in the prevalence of diabetes in patients with schizophrenia and the general population dramatically and linearly increased from 1.6% in the 15–25 age-band to 19.2% in the 55–65 age-band. CONCLUSION: Thus, the current data suggest that on the one hand metabolic abnormalities are an inherent part of schizophrenic illness, as they are already present in first-episode patients. On the other hand, however, our results suggest a direct effect of the illness and/or antipsychotic medication on their occurence. The data underscore the need for screening for metabolic abnormalities in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, already starting from the onset of the illness

Intussusception of the Small Intestine Caused by a Primary Melanoma?

Although the gastrointestinal tract is a fairly frequent site of melanoma metastases, reports of small bowel intussusception caused by melanoma are very rare. We report the case of a 77-year-old man who was admitted to our hospital with epigastric pain, melena and anaemia. After clinical examination, laboratory evaluation and radiological work-up the diagnosis of a jejunal intussusception was made. Exploratory laparoscopy revealed a large tumour arising from the jejunum, approximately 20 cm distal to the angle of Treitz. Small bowel resection with an end-to-end anastomosis was performed. Histological examination showed an intestinal melanoma. There are different theories concerning the origin of malignant melanoma in the small bowel. Although the small and large intestines normally contain no melanocytes, these cells have occasionally been found in the alimentary and respiratory tracts and even in lymph nodes, which supports the theory of a primary origin of melanoma at these sites. Since this was a solitary intestinal lesion and there was no history of cutaneous melanoma, we conclude that this could be an example of a very rare primary melanoma of the small intestine

Crucial role of antibodies to pertactin in Bordetella pertussis immunity

Pertussis, a serious infectious disease of the respiratory tract caused by Bordetella pertussis, is reemerging in vaccinated populations. Efforts to curtail this disease are hampered by limited insight into the basis of protective immunity. Opsonophagocytosis was recently found to play a central role in cellular bactericidal activity against B. pertussis. In the present study, we studied the specificity of opsonic antibodies. Anti-pertactin antibodies, but not anti-pertussis toxin, anti-fimbriae, or anti-filamentous hemagglutinin antibodies, were found to be crucial for B. pertussis phagocytosis. These data are consistent with field studies showing that levels of antibodies to pertactin correlate with protection.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriale

Crucial role of antibodies to pertactin in Bordetella pertussis immunity

Pertussis, a serious infectious disease of the respiratory tract caused by Bordetella pertussis, is reemerging in vaccinated populations. Efforts to curtail this disease are hampered by limited insight into the basis of protective immunity. Opsonophagocytosis was recently found to play a central role in cellular bactericidal activity against B. pertussis. In the present study, we studied the specificity of opsonic antibodies. Anti-pertactin antibodies, but not anti-pertussis toxin, anti-fimbriae, or anti-filamentous hemagglutinin antibodies, were found to be crucial for B. pertussis phagocytosis. These data are consistent with field studies showing that levels of antibodies to pertactin correlate with protection.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriale

Morphological changes in 15 skeletal muscles of horses after 8 weeks of aquatraining

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Which clinical and biochemical predictors should be used to screen for diabetes in patients with serious mental illness receiving antipsychotic medication? A large observational study

© 2019 Mitchell et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Objective We aimed to investigate which clinical and metabolic tests offer optimal accuracy and acceptability to help diagnose diabetes among a large sample of people with serious mental illness in receipt of antipsychotic medication. Methods A prospective observational study design of biochemical and clinical factors was used. Biochemical measures were fasting glucose, insulin and lipids, oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT), hemoglobin A1c, and insulin resistance assessed with the homeostatic model (HOMA-IR) were determined in a consecutive cohort of 798 adult psychiatric inpatients receiving antipsychotics. Clinical variables were gender, age, global assessment of functioning (GAF), mental health clinicians\u27 global impression (CGI), duration of severe mental illness, height, weight, BMI and waist/hip ratio. In addition, we calculated the risk using combined clinical predictors using the Leicester Practice Risk Score (LPRS) and the Topics Diabetes Risk Score (TDRS). Diabetes was defined by older criteria (impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or OGTT) as well as2010 criteria (IFG or OGTT or Glycated haemoglobin (HBA1c)) at conventional cut-offs. Results Using the older criteria, 7.8% had diabetes (men: 6.3%; women: 10.3%). Using the new criteria, 10.2% had diabetes (men: 8.2%, women: 13.2%), representing a 30.7% increase (p = 0.02) in the prevalence of diabetes. Regarding biochemical predictors, conventional OGTT, IFG, and HbA1c thresholds used to identify newly defined diabetes missed 25%, 50% and 75% of people with diabetes, respectively. The conventional HBA1c cut-point of ≥6.5% (48 mmol/mol) missed 7 of 10 newly defined cases of diabetes while a cut-point of ≥5.7% improved sensitivity from 44.4% to up to 85%. Specific algorithm approaches offered reasonable accuracy. Unfortunately no single clinical factor was able to accurately rule-in a diagnosis of diabetes. Three clinical factors were able to rule-out diabetes with good accuracy namely: BMI, waist/hip ratio and height. A BMI \u3c 30 had a 92% negative predictive value in ruling-out diabetes. Of those not diabetic, 20% had a BMI ≥ 30. However, for complete diagnosis a specific biochemical protocol is still necessary. Conclusions Patients with SMI maintained on antipsychotic medication cannot be reliably screened for diabetes using clinical variables alone. Accurate assessment requires a two-step algorithm consisting of HBA1c ≥5.7% followed by both FG and OGTT which does not require all patients to have OGTT and FG