Managing Risk After Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Concomitant Atrial Fibrillation and Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy.

The Dunhill Medical Trust (Grant ID: RTF44/0114)This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Heart Association via http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.116.01332

Carotid Atheroinflammation Is Associated With Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Severity.

Background: Atherosclerosis is a systemic inflammatory disease, with common inflammatory processes implicated in both atheroma vulnerability and blood-brain barrier disruption. This prospective multimodal imaging study aimed to measure directly the association between systemic atheroma inflammation ("atheroinflammation") and downstream chronic cerebral small vessel disease severity. Methods: Twenty-six individuals with ischemic stroke with ipsilateral carotid artery stenosis of >50% underwent 18fluoride-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography within 2 weeks of stroke. Small vessel disease severity and white matter hyperintensity volume were assessed using 3-tesla magnetic resonance imaging also within 2 weeks of stroke. Results: Fluorodeoxyglucose uptake was independently associated with more severe small vessel disease (odds ratio 6.18, 95% confidence interval 2.1-18.2, P < 0.01 for the non-culprit carotid artery) and larger white matter hyperintensity volumes (coefficient = 14.33 mL, P < 0.01 for the non-culprit carotid artery). Conclusion: These proof-of-concept results have important implications for our understanding of the neurovascular interface and potential therapeutic exploitation in the management of systemic atherosclerosis, particularly non-stenotic disease previously considered asymptomatic, in order to reduce the burden of chronic cerebrovascular disease

An investigation of matrix population model assumptions : wrens (Troglodytes troglodytes) as a case study

A simulation matrix population model of a small population of wrens (Troglodytes troglodytes) is presented. The field work methods used to obtain and analyse the demographic rates are provided. This includes a description of the use of miniature radio tags to track juvenile (post-fledging) survival and dispersal, and capture mark recapture analysis of an eight year dataset to estimate adult survival rates, taking into account environmental variation and density dependence. Age related reproductive rates were obtained from detailed nest surveys. Using these demographic rates (means and variances), and information on density dependence in survival and breeding, a simulation matrix model was developed using Matlab (The MathWorks, Inc.). The operation of this model and its outputs are explained in detail, with particular reference to the methods employed to incorporate both density dependent survival and reproduction and environmental and demographic stochasticity. This model is then used to illustrate how, under plausible conditions of density dependence and stochasticity, large discrepancies are obtained between the deterministic, density independent elasticities of the population growth rate (λ) and the stochastic, density dependent elasticities of the equilibrium population size, extinction probability and invasion exponent. Since the elasticities of λ are often used to guide the management of endangered species, these results are particularly relevant to workers in the field of rare species conservation. While the importance of including environmental variation in the form of stochastic population simulations seems to now be generally accepted, the role of density dependent population regulation is still infrequently considered. Since one of the most common causes of population decline is habitat destruction, leading to an increase in population density within the remaining areas of habitat, this omission may rarely be justified. It is recommended that when elasticity analysis is conducted as part of species conservation efforts, both density dependence and stochasticity are included. Failure to do so may result in the misguided management of endangered species.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Every Picture Tells a Story: The 2010 Round of Congressional Redistricting in New England

The United States Constitution requires that the number of representatives in Congress be reapportioned among the states based on a decennial census, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled half a century ago that congressional districts within each state must be, as nearly as practicable, equal in population. However, the actual drawing of district lines for our national lower house and the methods employed for doing so are largely left to the individual states. Redistricting thus presents a fertile field for the comparative examination of state politics and political institutions

The Spitzer c2d survey of large, nearby, interstellar clouds. X. The Chamaeleon II pre-main-sequence population as observed with IRAC and MIPS

We discuss the results from the combined IRAC and MIPS c2d Spitzer Legacy survey observations and complementary optical and NIR data of the Chamaeleon II (Cha II) dark cloud. We perform a census of the young population in an area of similar to 1.75 deg^(2) and study the spatial distribution and properties of the cloud members and candidate pre-main-sequence (PMS) objects and their circumstellar matter. Our census is complete down to the substellar regime (M approximate to 0.03 M☉). From the analysis of the volume density of the PMS objects and candidates we find two groups of objects with volume densities higher than 25 M☉ pc^(-3) and 5-10 members each. A multiplicity fraction of about 13% +/- 3% is observed for objects with separations 0.8" < θ < 6.0" (142-1065 AU). No evidence for variability between the two epochs of the c2d IRAC data set, Δt ~ 6 hr, is detected. We estimate a star formation efficiency of 1%-4%, consistent with the estimates for Taurus and Lupus, but lower than for Cha I. This might mean that different star formation activities in the Chamaeleon clouds reflect a different history of star formation. We also find that Cha II is turning some 6-7 M☉ into stars every Myr, which is low in comparison with the star formation rate in other c2d clouds. The disk fraction of 70%-80% that we estimate in Cha II is much higher than in other star-forming regions and indicates that the population in this cloud is dominated by objects with active accretion. Finally, the Cha II outflows are discussed; a new Herbig-Haro outflow, HH 939, driven by the classical T Tauri star Sz 50, has been discovered

Developing a pragmatic medical curriculum for the 21st century.

Medical education within a hospital setting presents both opportunities and challenges. The range of educational experiences on offer is often vast, though may be lost in the overworked and convoluted environment of a tertiary centre. As our learners are increasingly consumed by the literal and figurative labyrinths of hospitals and electronic learning logs, are we failing to train them in the skills they need to deliver 21st century health care? In response to this problem we propose a FARCICAL approach: Fostering A Relevant Curriculum that Is Closer to Actual Life.This is the author accepted manuscript. It is currently under an indefinite embargo pending publication by Wiley

Microrheology with optical tweezers: data analysis

We present a data analysis procedure that provides the solution to a long-standing issue in microrheology studies, i.e. the evaluation of the fluids' linear viscoelastic properties from the analysis of a finite set of experimental data, describing (for instance) the time-dependent mean-square displacement of suspended probe particles experiencing Brownian fluctuations. We report, for the first time in the literature, the linear viscoelastic response of an optically trapped bead suspended in a Newtonian fluid, over the entire range of experimentally accessible frequencies. The general validity of the proposed method makes it transferable to the majority of microrheology and rheology techniques

Flowing with Eight Supersymmetries in M-Theory and F-theory

We consider holographic RG flow solutions with eight supersymmetries and study the geometry transverse to the brane. For both M2-branes and for D3-branes in F-theory this leads to an eight-manifold with only a four-form flux. In both settings there is a natural four-dimensional hyper-Kahler slice that appears on the Coulomb branch. In the IIB theory this hyper-Kahler manifold encodes the Seiberg-Witten coupling over the Coulomb branch of a U(1) probe theory. We focus primarily upon a new flow solution in M-theory. This solution is first obtained using gauged supergravity and then lifted to eleven dimensions. In this new solution, the brane probes have an Eguchi-Hanson moduli space with the M2-branes spread over the non-trivial 2-sphere. It is also shown that the new solution is valid for a class of orbifold theories. We discuss how the hyper-Kahler structure on the slice extends to some form of G-structure in the eight-manifold, and describe how this can be computed.Comment: 29 pages, 1 figure, harvma