A Pulsar-Based Map of Galactic Acceleration

Binary pulsars can be used to probe Galactic potential gradients through calculating their line-of-sight accelerations. We present the first data release of direct line-of-sight acceleration measurements for 26 binary pulsars. We validate these data with a local acceleration model, and compare our results to those extracted from indirect methods. We find evidence for an acceleration gradient in agreement with these values, with our results indicating a local disk density of $\rho_\mathrm{d} = 0.064_{-0.033}^{+0.025} \ \mathrm{M_\odot}\mathrm{pc}^{-3}$. We also find evidence for unmodeled noise of unknown origin in our data set.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Improving Distances to Binary Millisecond Pulsars with Gaia

Pulsar distances are notoriously difficult to measure, and play an important role in many fundamental physics experiments, such as pulsar timing arrays (PTAs). Here we perform a cross-match between International PTA pulsars (IPTA) and Gaia's DR2 and DR3. We then combine the IPTA pulsar's parallax with its binary companion's parallax, found in Gaia, to improve the distance measurement to the binary. We find 7 cross-matched IPTA pulsars in Gaia DR2, and when using Gaia DR3, we find 6 IPTA pulsar cross-matches, but with 7 Gaia objects. Moving from Gaia DR2 to Gaia DR3, we find that the Gaia parallaxes for the successfully cross-matched pulsars improved by $53\%$, and pulsar distances improved by $29\%$. Finally, we find that binary companions with a $<3.0\sigma$ detection are unreliable associations, setting a high bar for successful cross-matches.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, 4 table

Louisiana Tech’s Parkinson Resource Center Nursing Student Scholars

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Respiratory Management of Patients with ALS in Northern New England

Background: • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of brain and spinal cord motor neurons, leading to steady loss of voluntary muscle function and early death from respiratory failure. •The incidence of ALS is 1?2/100,000 population, the prevalence is 5?6/100,000 and approximately 30,000 people are living with ALS in the United States. • Currently there is no cure for ALS; treatment is focused on symptomatic care and improving the quality of life. • Most ALS patients in the United States are treated either at multidisciplinary ALS centers/clinics in academic institutions or by community?based physicians/ neurology practices. • It is unclear if outcomes in patients with ALS are different among those followed in multidisciplinary clinics(MDC) versus community based physicians/ neurology practices (CP). • The goal of this project was to compare the type of respiratory education and care received by patients with ALS from Northern New England at MDC’s (Fletcher Allen and Dartmouth Medical Center) versus CP.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1029/thumbnail.jp

Childhood adversity, pubertal timing and self-harm: a longitudinal cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The occurrence of early childhood adversity is strongly linked to later self-harm, but there is poor understanding of how this distal risk factor might influence later behaviours. One possible mechanism is through an earlier onset of puberty in children exposed to adversity, since early puberty is associated with an increased risk of adolescent self-harm. We investigated whether early pubertal timing mediates the association between childhood adversity and later self-harm. METHODS: Participants were 6698 young people from a UK population-based birth cohort (ALSPAC). We measured exposure to nine types of adversity from 0 to 9 years old, and self-harm when participants were aged 16 and 21 years. Pubertal timing measures were age at peak height velocity (aPHV - males and females) and age at menarche (AAM). We used generalised structural equation modelling for analyses. RESULTS: For every additional type of adversity; participants had an average 12-14% increased risk of self-harm by 16. Relative risk (RR) estimates were stronger for direct effects when outcomes were self-harm with suicidal intent. There was no evidence that earlier pubertal timing mediated the association between adversity and self-harm [indirect effect RR 1.00, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00-1.00 for aPHV and RR 1.00, 95% CI 1.00-1.01 for AAM]. CONCLUSIONS: A cumulative measure of exposure to multiple types of adversity does not confer an increased risk of self-harm via early pubertal timing, however both childhood adversity and early puberty are risk factors for later self-harm. Research identifying mechanisms underlying the link between childhood adversity and later self-harm is needed to inform interventions.Medical Research Foundation and Medical Research Council (MR/R004889/1)

Manejo que realiza el personal de salud a pacientes con hipertensión arterial en el puesto de salud sede de sector Santa Cruz del municipio de Matiguas del departamento de Matagalpa en el segundo semestre del año 2020.

La presente investigación trata acerca del manejo que realiza el personal de salud a pacientes con hipertensión arterial en el puesto de salud sede de sector Santa Cruz del municipio de Matiguas del departamento de Matagalpa en el segundo semestre del año 2020. El propósito de la investigación es describir el manejo que realiza el personal de salud a pacientes con HTA en el puesto de salud Santa Cruz de la comunidad de Santa Cruz del municipio de Matiguas del departamento de Matagalpa. Los resultados obtenidos revelaron que hay un déficit en la atención brindada a los pacientes hipertensos, puesto que no se cumple con los criterios establecidos en su totalidad como menciona la normativa de atención a pacientes con enfermedades crónicas no trasmisibles (000). Sin embargo, es importante resaltar que el personal cumple con los criterios que se pueden manejar según la capacidad del puesto de salud. Esta investigación enfatiza en la normativa 000, donde se encuentran plasmadas una serie de estrategias dirigidas a los diferentes niveles de atención, con el objetivo de prevenir la aparición de nuevos casos hipertensivos. Es de gran importancia llevar a cabo cada una de las acciones a nivel de sector a fin de disminuir la comorbilidad y mortalidad por hipertensión arteri

An exploration of the genetic epidemiology of non-suicidal self-harm and suicide attempt.

BACKGROUND: Empirical evidence supporting the distinction between suicide attempt (SA) and non-suicidal self-harm (NSSH) is lacking. Although NSSH is a risk factor for SA, we do not currently know whether these behaviours lie on a continuum of severity, or whether they are discrete outcomes with different aetiologies. We conducted this exploratory genetic epidemiology study to investigate this issue further. METHODS: We explored the extent of genetic overlap between NSSH and SA in a large, richly-phenotyped cohort (the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children; N = 4959), utilising individual-level genetic and phenotypic data to conduct analyses of genome-wide complex traits and polygenic risk scores (PRS). RESULTS: The single nucleotide polymorphism heritability of NSSH was estimated to be 13% (SE 0.07) and that of SA to be 0% (SE 0.07). Of the traits investigated, NSSH was most strongly correlated with higher IQ (rG = 0.31, SE = 0.22), there was little evidence of high genetic correlation between NSSH and SA (rG = - 0.1, SE = 0.54), likely due to the low heritability estimate for SA. The PRS for depression differentiated between those with NSSH and SA in multinomial regression. The optimal PRS prediction model for SA (Nagelkerke R2 0.022, p < 0.001) included ADHD, depression, income, anorexia and neuroticism and explained more variance than the optimal prediction model for NSSH (Nagelkerke R2 0.010, p < 0.001) which included ADHD, alcohol consumption, autism spectrum conditions, depression, IQ, neuroticism and suicide attempt. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that SA does not have a large genetic component, and that although NSSH and SA are not discrete outcomes there appears to be little genetic overlap between the two. The relatively small sample size and resulting low heritability estimate for SA was a limitation of the study. Combined with low heritability estimates, this implies that family or population structures in SA GWASs may contribute to signals detected

An exploration of the genetic epidemiology of non-suicidal self-harm and suicide attempt

Abstract: Background: Empirical evidence supporting the distinction between suicide attempt (SA) and non-suicidal self-harm (NSSH) is lacking. Although NSSH is a risk factor for SA, we do not currently know whether these behaviours lie on a continuum of severity, or whether they are discrete outcomes with different aetiologies. We conducted this exploratory genetic epidemiology study to investigate this issue further. Methods: We explored the extent of genetic overlap between NSSH and SA in a large, richly-phenotyped cohort (the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children; N = 4959), utilising individual-level genetic and phenotypic data to conduct analyses of genome-wide complex traits and polygenic risk scores (PRS). Results: The single nucleotide polymorphism heritability of NSSH was estimated to be 13% (SE 0.07) and that of SA to be 0% (SE 0.07). Of the traits investigated, NSSH was most strongly correlated with higher IQ (rG = 0.31, SE = 0.22), there was little evidence of high genetic correlation between NSSH and SA (rG = − 0.1, SE = 0.54), likely due to the low heritability estimate for SA. The PRS for depression differentiated between those with NSSH and SA in multinomial regression. The optimal PRS prediction model for SA (Nagelkerke R2 0.022, p < 0.001) included ADHD, depression, income, anorexia and neuroticism and explained more variance than the optimal prediction model for NSSH (Nagelkerke R2 0.010, p < 0.001) which included ADHD, alcohol consumption, autism spectrum conditions, depression, IQ, neuroticism and suicide attempt. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that SA does not have a large genetic component, and that although NSSH and SA are not discrete outcomes there appears to be little genetic overlap between the two. The relatively small sample size and resulting low heritability estimate for SA was a limitation of the study. Combined with low heritability estimates, this implies that family or population structures in SA GWASs may contribute to signals detected