Fetal and Early Post-Natal Mineralization of the Tympanic Bulla in Fin Whales May Reveal a Hitherto Undiscovered Evolutionary Trait

The evolution of the cetacean skeleton followed a path that differentiated this group from other terrestrial mammals about 50 million years ago [1], and debate is still going on about the relationships between Cetacea and Artiodactyla [2], [3], [4]. Some skeletal traits of the basilosaurids (the more advanced forms of Archaeocetes), such as the expansion of the peribullary air sinuses, dental modification and vertebral size uniformity [5] are maintained and further emphasized also in contemporary odontocetes and mysticetes. Using Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry here we report that the deposition of bone mineral in fetal and newborn specimens of the fin whale Balaenoptera physalus is remarkably higher in the bulla tympanica than in the adjacent basal skull or in the rest of the skeleton. Ossification of the tympanic bulla in fetal Artiodactyla (bovine, hippopotamus) is minimal, becomes sensible after birth and then progresses during growth, contrarily to the precocious mineralization that we observed in fin whales. Given the importance of the ear bones for the precise identification of phylogenetic relationship in therian evolution [6], this feature may indicate a specific evolutionary trait of fin whales and possibly other cetacean species or families. Early mineralization of the tympanic bulla allows immediate sound conduction in the aquatic medium and consequently holds potential importance for mother-calf relationship and postnatal survival

WAO consensus on DEfinition of Food Allergy SEverity (DEFASE).

BACKGROUND: While several scoring systems for the severity of anaphylactic reactions have been developed, there is a lack of consensus on definition and categorisation of severity of food allergy disease as a whole. AIM: To develop an international consensus on the severity of food allergy (DEfinition of Food Allergy Severity, DEFASE) scoring system, to be used globally. METHODS PHASE 1: We conducted a mixed-method systematic review (SR) of 11 databases for published and unpublished literature on severity of food allergy management and set up a panel of international experts. PHASE 2: Based on our findings in Phase 1, we drafted statements for a two-round modified electronic Delphi (e-Delphi) survey. A purposefully selected multidisciplinary international expert panel on food allergy (n = 60) was identified and sent a structured questionnaire, including a set of statements on different domains of food allergy severity related to symptoms, health-related quality of life, and economic impact. Participants were asked to score their agreement on each statement on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree". Median scores and percentage agreements were calculated. Consensus was defined a priori as being achieved if 70% or more of panel members rated a statement as "strongly agree" to "agree" after the second round. Based on feedback, 2 additional online voting rounds were conducted. RESULTS: We received responses from 92% of Delphi panel members in round 1 and 85% in round 2. Consensus was achieved on the overall score and in all of the 5 specific key domains as essential components of the DEFASE score. CONCLUSIONS: The DEFASE score is the first comprehensive grading of food allergy severity that considers not only the severity of a single reaction, but the whole disease spectrum. An international consensus has been achieved regarding a scoring system for food allergy disease. It offers an evaluation grid, which may help to rate the severity of food allergy. Phase 3 will involve validating the scoring system in research settings, and implementing it in clinical practice

Fast-ion transport by Alfvén eigenmodes above a critical gradient threshold

Experiments on the DIII-D tokamak have identified how multiple simultaneous Alfvén eigenmodes (AEs) lead to overlapping wave-particle resonances and stochastic fast-ion transport in fusion grade plasmas [C. S. Collins et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 095001 (2016)]. The behavior results in a sudden increase in fast-ion transport at a threshold that is well above the linear stability threshold for Alfvén instability. A novel beam modulation technique [W. W. Heidbrink et al., Nucl. Fusion 56, 112011 (2016)], in conjunction with an array of fast-ion diagnostics, probes the transport by measuring the fast-ion flux in different phase-space volumes. Well above the threshold, simulations that utilize the measured mode amplitudes and structures predict a hollow fast-ion profile that resembles the profile measured by fast-ion Dα spectroscopy; the modelling also successfully reproduces the temporal response of neutral-particle signals to beam modulation. The use of different modulated sources probes the details of phase-space transport by populating different regions in phase space and by altering the amplitude of the AEs. Both effects modulate the phase-space flows

Prediction of nonlinear evolution character of energetic-particle-driven instabilities

A general criterion is proposed and found to successfully predict the emergence of chirping oscillations of unstable Alfvénic eigenmodes in tokamak plasma experiments. The model includes realistic eigenfunction structure, detailed phase-space dependences of the instability drive, stochastic scattering and the Coulomb drag. The stochastic scattering combines the effects of collisional pitch angle scattering and micro-turbulence spatial diffusion. The latter mechanism is essential to accurately identify the transition between the fixed-frequency mode behavior and rapid chirping in tokamaks and to resolve the disparity with respect to chirping observation in spherical and conventional tokamaks

Prediction of nonlinear evolution character of energetic-particle-driven instabilities

A general criterion is proposed and found to successfully predict the emergence of chirping oscillations of unstable Alfvénic eigenmodes in tokamak plasma experiments. The model includes realistic eigenfunction structure, detailed phase-space dependences of the instability drive, stochastic scattering and the Coulomb drag. The stochastic scattering combines the effects of collisional pitch angle scattering and micro-turbulence spatial diffusion. The latter mechanism is essential to accurately identify the transition between the fixed-frequency mode behavior and rapid chirping in tokamaks and to resolve the disparity with respect to chirping observation in spherical and conventional tokamaks

Confinement degradation by Alfvén-eigenmode induced fast-ion transport in steady-state scenario discharges

Analysis of neutron and fast-ion Dα data from the DIII-D tokamak shows that Alfvén eigenmode activity degrades fast-ion confinement in many high βN, high qmin, steady-state scenario discharges. (βN is the normalized plasma pressure and qmin is the minimum value of the plasma safety factor.) Fast-ion diagnostics that are sensitive to the co-passing population exhibit the largest reduction relative to classical predictions. The increased fast-ion transport in discharges with strong AE activity accounts for the previously observed reduction in global confinement with increasing qmin; however, not all high qmin discharges show appreciable degradation. Two relatively simple empirical quantities provide convenient monitors of these effects: (1) an 'AE amplitude' signal based on interferometer measurements and (2) the ratio of the neutron rate to a zero-dimensional classical prediction. © 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd