A systematic search for massive young stars in the Galaxy - the RMS survey

We have selected red MSX sources (RMS) that have the colours of massive young stellar objects (MYSOs). Our aim is to generate a large, systematically selected sample to address questions such as their luminosity function, lifetimes, clustering and triggering. Other objects such as UCHIIs, PN, PPN and AGB stars have similar IR colours and a large programme of ground-based follow-up observations is underway to identify and eliminate these from the sample of the red MSX sources. These include radio continuum observations, kinematic distances, ground-based mid-IR imaging, near-IR imaging and spectroscopy to distinguish. We report the progress of these campaigns on the 3000 candidates, with initial indications showing that a substantial fraction are indeed massive YSOs.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures Talk in conference: Milky Way surveys, the structure and evolution of our Galaxy, Boston 200

Monitoring Methods for Enhanced Aquifer Recharge Projects

This paper presents an overview of enhanced aquifer recharge, its current status in New Mexico, and methods that can be used to monitor the movement and quality of recharged water. Despite their growing use in communities throughout the United States and particularly in the arid Western United States, no enhanced aquifer recharge projects have yet been implemented in New Mexico, although several entities are exploring the feasibility of such projects. Concerns about potential impacts to water quality and the potential for disputes over water accounting have been raised by regulatory agencies. Permitting systems for aquifer recharge projects are being established by the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer and the New Mexico Environment Department Ground Water Quality Bureau, but have yet to be implemented. Comprehensive and effective monitoring programs will likely be required for large aquifer recharge projects in New Mexico. Monitoring programs are typically designed to track recharged water along its entire flow path to ensure that it reaches its intended storage location, that it does not adversely affect the quality of existing groundwater or soils, and to determine the amount of recoverable water. For a surface infiltration project, the monitoring program is often more complex than for a direct injection system because instrumentation must be installed within the vadose zone as well as the saturated zone. A variety of methods are available to monitor the movement of water and water quality changes within the vadose zone; the most appropriate method depends on the hydrogeologic characteristics of a given site. Common techniques include neutron logging, using heat as a tracer, tensiometers, porous cup lysimeters, and ground surface imagery techniques

THE COMPETITIVENESS IMPACTS OF CANADA'S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT REVIEW REGULATIONS; FINAL REPORT

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Water T2 could predict functional decline in patients with dysferlinopathy

BACKGROUND: Water T2 (T2 METHODS: Patients with genetically confirmed dysferlinopathy were assessed as part of the Jain Foundation Clinical Outcomes Study in dysferlinopathy. The cohort included 18 patients from two sites, both equipped with 3-tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems from the same vendor. T2 RESULTS: A higher T2 CONCLUSIONS: In dysferlinopathy, T

Myostatin and follistatin as monitoring and prognostic biomarkers in dysferlinopathy

Myostatin is a myokine which acts upon skeletal muscle to inhibit growth and regeneration. Myostatin is endogenously antagonised by follistatin. This study assessed serum myostatin and follistatin concentrations as monitoring or prognostic biomarkers in dysferlinopathy, an autosomal recessively inherited muscular dystrophy. Myostatin was quantified twice with a three-year interval in 76 patients with dysferlinopathy and 38 controls. Follistatin was quantified in 62 of these patients at the same timepoints, and in 31 controls. Correlations with motor function, muscle fat fraction and contractile cross-sectional area were performed. A regression model was used to account for confounding variables. Baseline myostatin, but not follistatin, correlated with baseline function and MRI measures. However, in individual patients, three-year change in myostatin did not correlate with functional or MRI changes. Linear modelling demonstrated that function, serum creatine kinase and C-reactive protein, but not age, were independently related to myostatin concentration. Baseline myostatin concentration predicted loss of ambulation but not rate of change of functional or MRI measures, even when relative inhibition with follistatin was considered. With adjustment for extra-muscular causes of variation, myostatin could form a surrogate measure of functional ability or muscle mass, however myostatin inhibition does not form a promising treatment target in dysferlinopathy

Fine particulate matter pollution and risk of community-acquired sepsis

While air pollution has been associated with health complications, its effect on sepsis risk is unknown. We examined the association between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution and risk of sepsis hospitalization. We analyzed data from the 30,239 community-dwelling adults in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort linked with satellite-derived measures of PM2.5 data. We defined sepsis as a hospital admission for a serious infection with ≥2 systemic inflammatory response (SIRS) criteria. We performed incidence density sampling to match sepsis cases with 4 controls by age (±5 years), sex, and race. For each matched group we calculated mean daily PM2.5 exposures for short-term (30-day) and long-term (one-year) periods preceding the sepsis event. We used conditional logistic regression to evaluate the association between PM2.5 exposure and sepsis, adjusting for education, income, region, temperature, urbanicity, tobacco and alcohol use, and medical conditions. We matched 1386 sepsis cases with 5544 non-sepsis controls. Mean 30-day PM2.5 exposure levels (Cases 12.44 vs. Controls 12.34 µg/m3; p = 0.28) and mean one-year PM2.5 exposure levels (Cases 12.53 vs. Controls 12.50 µg/m3; p = 0.66) were similar between cases and controls. In adjusted models, there were no associations between 30-day PM2.5 exposure levels and sepsis (4th vs. 1st quartiles OR: 1.06, 95% CI: 0.85–1.32). Similarly, there were no associations between one-year PM2.5 exposure levels and sepsis risk (4th vs. 1st quartiles OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.78–1.18). In the REGARDS cohort, PM2.5 air pollution exposure was not associated with risk of sepsis

Pseudospectral methods for atoms in strong magnetic fields

We present a new pseudospectral algorithm for the calculation of the structure of atoms in strong magnetic fields. We have verified this technique for one, two and three-electron atoms in zero magnetic fields against laboratory results and find typically better than one-percent accuracy. We further verify this technique against the state-of-the-art calculations of hydrogen, helium and lithium in strong magnetic fields (up to about $2\times 10^{6}$ T) and find a similar level of agreement. The key enabling advantages of the algorithm are its simplicity (about 130 lines of commented code) and its speed (about $10^2-10^5$ times faster than finite-element methods to achieve similar accuracy).Comment: 10 pages, version accepted to MNRA