Magnetic Coupling in the Disks around Young Gas Giant Planets

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When the heart rules the head: ischaemic stroke and intracerebral haemorrhage complicating infective endocarditis

Sir William Osler meticulously described the clinical manifestations of infective endocarditis in 1885, concluding that: 'few diseases present greater difficulties in the way of diagnosis … which in many cases are practically insurmountable'. Even with modern investigation techniques, diagnosing infective endocarditis can be hugely challenging, yet is critically important in patients presenting with stroke (both cerebral infarction and intracranial haemorrhage), its commonest neurological complication. In ischaemic stroke, intravenous thrombolysis carries an unacceptably high risk of intracranial haemorrhage, while in intracerebral haemorrhage, mycotic aneurysms require urgent treatment to avoid rebleeding, and in all cases, prompt treatment with antibiotics and valve surgery may be life-saving. Here, we describe typical presentations of ischaemic stroke and intracerebral haemorrhage caused by infective endocarditis. We review the diagnostic challenges, the importance of rapid diagnosis, treatment options and controversies

Formation environment of the Galilean Moons

postprintWorkshop on the Magneto-Rotational Instability in Protoplanetary Disks, Kobe, Japan, 2-3 June 2009

Copper(ii) complexes of N-propargyl cyclam ligands reveal a range of coordination modes and colours, and unexpected reactivity

The coordination chemistry of N-functionalised cyclam ligands has a rich history, yet cyclam derivatives with pendant alkynes are largely unexplored. This is despite the significant potential and burgeoning application of N-propargyl cyclams and related compounds in the creation of diversely functionalised cyclam derivatives via copper-catalysed azide–alkyne ‘click’ reactions. Herein we describe single crystal X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic investigations of the coordination chemistry of copper(II) complexes of cyclam derivatives with between 1 and 4 pendant alkynes. The crystal structures of these copper complexes unexpectedly reveal a range of coordination modes, and the surprising occurrence of five unique complexes within a single recrystallisation of the tetra-N-propargyl cyclam ligand. One of these species exhibits weak intramolecular copper-alkyne coordination, and another is formed by a surprising intramolecular copper-mediated hydroalkoxylation reaction with the solvent methanol, transforming one of the pendant alkynes to an enol ether. Multiple functionalisation of the tetra-N-propargyl ligand is demonstrated via a ‘tetra-click’ reaction with benzyl azide, and the copper-binding behaviour of the resulting tetra-triazole ligand is characterised spectroscopically

Mapping Aboveground Carbon in Oil Palm Plantations Using LiDAR: A Comparison of Tree-Centric versus Area-Based Approaches

Southeast Asia is the epicentre of world palm oil production. Plantations in Malaysia have increased 150% in area within the last decade, mostly at the expense of tropical forests. Maps of the aboveground carbon density (ACD) of vegetation generated by remote sensing technologies, such as airborne LiDAR, are vital for quantifying the effects of land use change for greenhouse gas emissions, and many papers have developed methods for mapping forests. However, nobody has yet mapped oil palm ACD from LiDAR. The development of carbon prediction models would open doors to remote monitoring of plantations as part of efforts to make the industry more environmentally sustainable. This paper compares the performance of tree-centric and area-based approaches to mapping ACD in oil palm plantations. We find that an area-based approach gave more accurate estimates of carbon density than tree-centric methods and that the most accurate estimation model includes LiDAR measurements of top-of-canopy height and canopy cover. We show that tree crown segmentation is sensitive to crown density, resulting in less accurate tree density and ACD predictions, but argue that tree-centric approach can nevertheless be useful for monitoring purposes, providing a method to detect, extract and count oil palm trees automatically from images.Airborne laser scanning data were collected by NERC ARF as part of NERC’s Human-modified Tropical Forests Programme (Biodiversity And Land-use Impacts on tropical ecosystem function (BALI) project; grant number: NE/K016377/1). We are grateful to the flight team and the data analysts at NERC’s data analysis node. Marion Pfeifer kindly provided us access to Pléiades imagery. We thank the Sime Darby Foundation, the Sabah Foundation, Benta Wawasan and the Sabah Forestry Department for their support of the SAFE Project. We thank the Royal Society South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership for logistical support in the field

Skyrmion fluctuations at a first-order phase transition boundary

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin textures with promising prospects for applications in data storage. They can form a lattice state due to competing magnetic interactions and are commonly found in a small region of the temperature - magnetic field phase diagram. Recent work has demonstrated that these magnetic quasi-particles fluctuate at the μeV energy scale. Here, we use a coherent x-ray correlation method at an x-ray free-electron laser to investigate these fluctuations in a magnetic phase coexistence region near a first-order transition boundary where fluctuations are not expected to play a major role. Surprisingly, we find that the relaxation of the intermediate scattering function at this transition differs significantly compared to that deep in the skyrmion lattice phase. The observation of a compressed exponential behavior suggests solid-like dynamics, often associated with jamming. We assign this behavior to disorder and the phase coexistence observed in a narrow field-window near the transition, which can cause fluctuations that lead to glassy behavior

Neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease responsive to interleukin-1 beta inhibition

BACKGROUND:Neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease is characterized by fever, urticarial rash, aseptic meningitis, deforming arthropathy, hearing loss, and mental retardation. Many patients have mutations in the cold-induced autoinflammatory syndrome 1 (CIAS1) gene, encoding cryopyrin, a protein that regulates inflammation.METHODS:We selected 18 patients with neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease (12 with identifiable CIAS1 mutations) to receive anakinra, an interleukin-1-receptor antagonist (1 to 2 mg per kilogram of body weight per day subcutaneously). In 11 patients, anakinra was withdrawn at three months until a flare occurred. The primary end points included changes in scores in a daily diary of symptoms, serum levels of amyloid A and C-reactive protein, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate from baseline to month 3 and from month 3 until a disease flare.RESULTS:All 18 patients had a rapid response to anakinra, with disappearance of rash. Diary scores improved (P<0.001) and serum amyloid A (from a median of 174 mg to 8 mg per liter), C-reactive protein (from a median of 5.29 mg to 0.34 mg per deciliter), and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate decreased at month 3 (all P<0.001), and remained low at month 6. Magnetic resonance imaging showed improvement in cochlear and leptomeningeal lesions as compared with baseline. Withdrawal of anakinra uniformly resulted in relapse within days; retreatment led to rapid improvement. There were no drug-related serious adverse events.CONCLUSIONS:Daily injections of anakinra markedly improved clinical and laboratory manifestations in patients with neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease, with or without CIAS1 mutations

The health and economic benefits of the global programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (2000-2014)

Background Lymphatic filariasis (LF), also known as elephantiasis, is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) targeted for elimination through a Global Programme to Eliminate LF (GPELF). Between 2000 and 2014, the GPELF has delivered 5.6 billion treatments to over 763 million people. Updating the estimated health and economic benefits of this significant achievement is important in justifying the resources and investment needed for eliminating LF. Method We combined previously established models to estimate the number of clinical manifestations and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted from three benefit cohorts (those protected from acquiring infection, those with subclinical morbidity prevented from progressing and those with clinical disease alleviated). The economic savings associated with this disease prevention was then analysed in the context of prevented medical expenses incurred by LF clinical patients, potential income loss through lost-labour, and prevented costs to the health system to care for affected individuals. The indirect cost estimates were calculated using the human capital approach. A combination of four wage sources was used to estimate the fair market value of time for an agricultural worker with LF infection (to ensure a conservative estimate, the lowest wage value was used). Results We projected that due to the first 15 years of the GPELF 36 million clinical cases and 175 (116–250) million DALYs will potentially be averted. It was estimated that due to this notable health impact, 100.5 billion US Dollars will potentially be saved over the lifetimes of the benefit cohorts. This total amount results from summing the medical expenses incurred by LF patients (3 billion US Dollars), potential income loss (94 billion US Dollars), and costs to the health system (3.5 billion US Dollars) that were projected to be prevented. The results were subjected to sensitivity analysis and were most sensitive to the assumed percentage of work hours lost for those suffering from chronic disease (changing the total economic benefit between 69.30–150.7 billion US Dollars). Conclusions Despite the limitations of any such analysis, this study identifies substantial health and economic benefits that have resulted from the first 15 years of the GPELF, and it highlights the value and importance of continued investment in the GPELF.</p

Using surveillance data to monitor entry into care of newly diagnosed HIV-infected persons: San Francisco, 2006–2007

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Linkage to care after HIV diagnosis is associated with both clinical and public health benefits. However, ensuring and monitoring linkage to care by public health departments has proved to be a difficult task. Here, we report the usefulness of routine monitoring of CD4 T cell counts and plasma HIV viral load as measures of entry into care after HIV diagnosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Since July 1, 2006, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) incorporated monitoring initial primary care visit into standard HIV public health investigation for newly diagnosed HIV-infected patients in select clinics. Entry into care was defined as having at least one visit to a primary HIV care provider after the initial diagnosis of HIV infection. Investigators collected reports from patients, medical providers, laboratories and reviewed medical records to determine the date of the initial health care visit after HIV diagnosis. We identified factors associated with increased likelihood of entering care after HIV diagnosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One -hundred and sixty new HIV-infected cases were diagnosed between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2007. Routine surveillance methods found that 101 of those cases entered HIV medical care and monitoring of CD4 T cell counts and plasma HIV viral load confirmed entry to care of 25 more cases, representing a 25% increase over routine data collection methods. We found that being interviewed by a public health investigator was associated with higher odds of entry into care after HIV diagnosis (OR 18.86 [1.83–194.80], p = .001) compared to cases not interviewed. Also, HIV diagnosis at the San Francisco county hospital versus diagnosis at the county municipal STD clinic was associated with higher odds of entry into care (OR 101.71 [5.29–1952.05], p < .001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The time from HIV diagnosis to initial CD4 T cell count, CD4 T cell value and HIV viral load testing may be appropriate surveillance measures for evaluating entry into care, as well as performance outcomes for local public health departments' HIV testing programs. Case investigation performed by the public health department or case management by clinic staff was associated with increased and shorter time to entry into HIV medical care.</p

High Energy Neutrinos from Quasars

We review and clarify the assumptions of our basic model for neutrino production in the cores of quasars, as well as those modifications to the model subsequently made by other workers. We also present a revised estimate of the neutrino background flux and spectrum obtained using more recent empirical studies of quasars and their evolution. We compare our results with other thoeretical calculations and experimental upper limits on the AGN neutrino background flux. We also estimate possible neutrino fluxes from the jets of blazars detected recently by the EGRET experiment on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. We discuss the theoretical implications of these estimates.Comment: 14 pg., ps file (includes figures), To be published in Space Science Review