Relative sit-to-stand power: aging trajectories, functionally relevant cut-off points, and normative data in a large European cohort

Background: A validated, standardized, and feasible test to assess muscle power in older adults has recently been reported: the sit-to-stand (STS) muscle power test. This investigation aimed to assess the relationship between relative STS power and age and to provide normative data, cut-off points, and minimal clinically important differences (MCID) for STS power measures in older women and men. Methods: A total of 9320 older adults (6161 women and 3159 men) aged 60–103 years and 586 young and middle-aged adults (318 women and 268 men) aged 20–60 years were included in this cross-sectional study. Relative (normalized to body mass), allometric (normalized to height squared), and specific (normalized to legs muscle mass) muscle power values were assessed by the 30 s STS power test. Body composition was evaluated by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and bioelectrical impedance analysis, and legs skeletal muscle index (SMI; normalized to height squared) was calculated. Habitual and maximal gait speed, timed up-and-go test, and 6 min walking distance were collected as physical performance measures, and participants were classified into two groups: well-functioning and mobility-limited older adults. Results: Relative STS power was found to decrease between 30–50 years (-0.05 W·kg-1·year-1; P > 0.05), 50–80 years (-0.10 to -0.13 W·kg-1·year-1; P < 0.001), and above 80 years (-0.07 to -0.08 W·kg-1·year-1; P < 0.001). A total of 1129 older women (18%) and 510 older men (16%) presented mobility limitations. Mobility-limited older adults were older and exhibited lower relative, allometric, and specific power; higher body mass index (BMI) and legs SMI (both only in women); and lower legs SMI (only in men) than their well-functioning counterparts (all P < 0.05). Normative data and cut-off points for relative, allometric, and specific STS power and for BMI and legs SMI were reported. Low relative STS power occurred below 2.1 W·kg-1 in women (area under the curve, AUC, [95% confidence interval, CI] = 0.85 [0.84–0.87]) and below 2.6 W·kg-1 in men (AUC [95% CI] = 0.89 [0.87–0.91]). The age-adjusted odds ratios [95% CI] for mobility limitations in older women and men with low relative STS power were 10.6 [9.0–12.6] and 14.1 [10.9–18.2], respectively. MCID values for relative STS power were 0.33 W·kg-1 in women and 0.42 W·kg-1 in men. Conclusions: Relative STS power decreased significantly after the age of 50 years and was negatively and strongly associated with mobility limitations. Our study provides normative data, functionally relevant cut-off points, and MCID values for STS power for their use in daily clinical practice. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society on Sarcopenia, Cachexia and Wasting Disorders

"Lexis" de Richard Goulet: un programa para la elaboración automática de léxicos de textos griegos y latinos en Macintosh (Apple)

The present paper analyzes Richard Goulet's software «Lexis» as a tool for the design of Greek and Latin texts on Macintosh computers. Because of its comprehensive Greek dictionary, this computer program succeeds in the authomatic lemmatizing of a Greek text in 70-80 per cent of the cases. Obviously, this lemmatization will later be corrected and completed through a comprehensive and user-friendly editing window. This software can also perform other functions, such as generating concordances, indexes of ocurrences, and various search modes. It can also import texts from the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae

Neutrino Propagation in a Strongly Magnetized Medium

We derive general expressions at the one-loop level for the coefficients of the covariant structure of the neutrino self-energy in the presence of a constant magnetic field. The neutrino energy spectrum and index of refraction are obtained for neutral and charged media in the strong-field limit ($M_{W}\gg \sqrt{B}\gg m_{e},T,\mu ,| \mathbf{p}|$) using the lowest Landau level approximation. The results found within the lowest Landau level approximation are numerically validated, summing in all Landau levels, for strong $B\gg T^{2}$ and weakly-strong $B \gtrsim T^{2}$ fields. The neutrino energy in leading order of the Fermi coupling constant is expressed as the sum of three terms: a kinetic-energy term, a term of interaction between the magnetic field and an induced neutrino magnetic moment, and a rest-energy term. The leading radiative correction to the kinetic-energy term depends linearly on the magnetic field strength and is independent of the chemical potential. The other two terms are only present in a charged medium. For strong and weakly-strong fields, it is found that the field-dependent correction to the neutrino energy in a neutral medium is much larger than the thermal one. Possible applications to cosmology and astrophysics are considered.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures. Corrected misprints in reference

Planck intermediate results. VIII. Filaments between interacting clusters

About half of the baryons of the Universe are expected to be in the form of filaments of hot and low density intergalactic medium. Most of these baryons remain undetected even by the most advanced X-ray observatories which are limited in sensitivity to the diffuse low density medium. The Planck satellite has provided hundreds of detections of the hot gas in clusters of galaxies via the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect and is an ideal instrument for studying extended low density media through the tSZ effect. In this paper we use the Planck data to search for signatures of a fraction of these missing baryons between pairs of galaxy clusters. Cluster pairs are good candidates for searching for the hotter and denser phase of the intergalactic medium (which is more easily observed through the SZ effect). Using an X-ray catalogue of clusters and the Planck data, we select physical pairs of clusters as candidates. Using the Planck data we construct a local map of the tSZ effect centered on each pair of galaxy clusters. ROSAT data is used to construct X-ray maps of these pairs. After having modelled and subtracted the tSZ effect and X-ray emission for each cluster in the pair we study the residuals on both the SZ and X-ray maps. For the merging cluster pair A399-A401 we observe a significant tSZ effect signal in the intercluster region beyond the virial radii of the clusters. A joint X-ray SZ analysis allows us to constrain the temperature and density of this intercluster medium. We obtain a temperature of kT = 7.1 +- 0.9, keV (consistent with previous estimates) and a baryon density of (3.7 +- 0.2)x10^-4, cm^-3. The Planck satellite mission has provided the first SZ detection of the hot and diffuse intercluster gas.Comment: Accepted by A&

Planck 2015 results. XXVII. The Second Planck Catalogue of Sunyaev-Zeldovich Sources

We present the all-sky Planck catalogue of Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) sources detected from the 29 month full-mission data. The catalogue (PSZ2) is the largest SZ-selected sample of galaxy clusters yet produced and the deepest all-sky catalogue of galaxy clusters. It contains 1653 detections, of which 1203 are confirmed clusters with identified counterparts in external data-sets, and is the first SZ-selected cluster survey containing > $10^3$ confirmed clusters. We present a detailed analysis of the survey selection function in terms of its completeness and statistical reliability, placing a lower limit of 83% on the purity. Using simulations, we find that the Y5R500 estimates are robust to pressure-profile variation and beam systematics, but accurate conversion to Y500 requires. the use of prior information on the cluster extent. We describe the multi-wavelength search for counterparts in ancillary data, which makes use of radio, microwave, infra-red, optical and X-ray data-sets, and which places emphasis on the robustness of the counterpart match. We discuss the physical properties of the new sample and identify a population of low-redshift X-ray under- luminous clusters revealed by SZ selection. These objects appear in optical and SZ surveys with consistent properties for their mass, but are almost absent from ROSAT X-ray selected samples

Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2

A search for unstable heavy fermions with the DELPHI detector at LEP is reported. Sequential and non-canonical leptons, as well as excited leptons and quarks, are considered. The data analysed correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 48 pb^{-1} at an e^+e^- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV and about 20 pb^{-1} equally shared between the centre-of-mass energies of 172 GeV and 161 GeV. The search for pair-produced new leptons establishes 95% confidence level mass limits in the region between 70 GeV/c^2 and 90 GeV/c^2, depending on the channel. The search for singly produced excited leptons and quarks establishes upper limits on the ratio of the coupling of the excited fermio

Search for charginos in e+e- interactions at sqrt(s) = 189 GeV

An update of the searches for charginos and gravitinos is presented, based on a data sample corresponding to the 158 pb^{-1} recorded by the DELPHI detector in 1998, at a centre-of-mass energy of 189 GeV. No evidence for a signal was found. The lower mass limits are 4-5 GeV/c^2 higher than those obtained at a centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV. The (\mu,M_2) MSSM domain excluded by combining the chargino searches with neutralino searches at the Z resonance implies a limit on the mass of the lightest neutralino which, for a heavy sneutrino, is constrained to be above 31.0 GeV/c^2 for tan(beta) \geq 1.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure