Severe cytomegalovirus gastritis during natalizumab-mediated immunosuppression

We report a 35-year-old female receiving natalizumab as monotherapy for multiple sclerosis who subsequently developed severe cytomegalovirus gastritis. As cytomegalovirus gastritis has not been previously described during natalizumab treatment, we discuss the biological plausibility of this potential association and avenues for further study

Fibonacci Series, Golden Proportions, and the Human Biology

Pythagoras, Plato and Euclid’s paved the way for Classical Geometry. The idea of shapes that can be mathematically defined by equations led to the creation of great structures of modern and ancient civilizations, and milestones in mathematics and science. However, classical geometry fails to explain the complexity of non-linear shapes replete in nature such as the curvature of a flower or the wings of a Butterfly. Such non-linearity can be explained by fractal geometry which creates shapes that emulate those found in nature with remarkable accuracy. Such phenomenon begs the question of architectural origin for biological existence within the universe. While the concept of a unifying equation of life has yet to be discovered, the Fibonacci sequence may establish an origin for such a development. The observation of the Fibonacci sequence is existent in almost all aspects of life ranging from the leaves of a fern tree, architecture, and even paintings, makes it highly unlikely to be a stochastic phenomenon. Despite its wide-spread occurrence and existence, the Fibonacci series and the Rule of Golden Proportions has not been widely documented in the human body. This paper serves to review the observed documentation of the Fibonacci sequence in the human body

Rayleigh wave dispersion measurements reveal low-velocity zones beneath the new crust in the Gulf of California

Rayleigh wave tomography provides images of the shallow mantle shear wave velocity structure beneath the Gulf of California. Low-velocity zones (LVZs) are found on axis between 26 and 50 km depth beneath the Guaymas Basin but mostly off axis under the other rift basins, with the largest feature underlying the Ballenas Transform Fault. We interpret the broadly distributed LVZs as regions of partial melting in a solid mantle matrix. The pathway for melt migration and focusing is more complex than an axis-centered source aligned above a deeper region of mantle melt and likely reflects the magmatic evolution of rift segments. We also consider the existence of solid lower continental crust in the Gulf north of the Guaymas Basin, where the association of the LVZs with asthenospheric upwelling suggests lateral flow assisted by a heat source. These results provide key constraints for numerical models of mantle upwelling and melt focusing in this young oblique rift

Seismic structure beneath the Gulf of California: a contribution from group velocity measurements

Rayleigh wave group velocity dispersion measurements from local and regional earthquakes are used to interpret the lithospheric structure in the Gulf of California region. We compute group velocity maps for Rayleigh waves from 10 to 150 s using earthquakes recorded by broad-band stations of the Network of Autonomously Recording Seismographs in Baja California and Mexico mainland, UNM in Mexico, BOR, DPP and GOR in southern California and TUC in Arizona. The study area is gridded in 120 longitude cells by 180 latitude cells, with an equal spacing of 10 × 10 km. Assuming that each gridpoint is laterally homogeneous, for each period the tomographic maps are inverted to produce a 3-D lithospheric shear wave velocity model for the region. Near the Gulf of California rift axis, we found three prominent low shear wave velocity regions, which are associated with mantle upwelling near the Cerro Prieto volcanic field, the Ballenas Transform Fault and the East Pacific Rise. Upwelling of the mantle at lithospheric and asthenospheric depths characterizes most of the Gulf. This more detailed finding is new when compared to previous surface wave studies in the region. A low-velocity zone in northcentral Baja at ∼28ºN which extends east–south–eastwards is interpreted as an asthenospheric window. In addition, we also identify a well-defined high-velocity zone in the upper mantle beneath central-western Baja California, which correlates with the previously interpreted location of the stalled Guadalupe and Magdalena microplates. We interpret locations of the fossil slab and slab window in light of the distribution of unique post-subduction volcanic rocks in the Gulf of California and Baja California. We also observe a high-velocity anomaly at 50-km depth extending down to ∼130 km near the southwestern Baja coastline and beneath Baja, which may represent another remnant of the Farallon slab

Optimizing Beam Transport in Rapidly Compressing Beams on the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment - II

The Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment-II (NDCX-II) is an induction linac that generates intense pulses of 1.2 MeV helium ions for heating matter to extreme conditions. Here, we present recent results on optimizing beam transport. The NDCX-II beamline includes a 1-meter-long drift section downstream of the last transport solenoid, which is filled with charge-neutralizing plasma that enables rapid longitudinal compression of an intense ion beam against space-charge forces. The transport section on NDCX-II consists of 28 solenoids. Finding optimal field settings for a group of solenoids requires knowledge of the envelope parameters of the beam. Imaging the beam on scintillator gives the radius of the beam, but the envelope angle dr/dz is not measured directly. We demonstrate how the parameters of the beam envelope (r, dr/dz, and emittance) can be reconstructed from a series of images taken at varying B-field strengths of a solenoid upstream of the scintillator. We use this technique to evaluate emittance at several points in the NDCX-II beamline and for optimizing the trajectory of the beam at the entry of the plasma-filled drift section

Short-Pulse, Compressed Ion Beams at the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment

We have commenced experiments with intense short pulses of ion beams on the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment (NDCX-II) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, with 1-mm beam spot size within 2.5 ns full-width at half maximum. The ion kinetic energy is 1.2 MeV. To enable the short pulse duration and mm-scale focal spot radius, the beam is neutralized in a 1.5-meter-long drift compression section following the last accelerator cell. A short-focal-length solenoid focuses the beam in the presence of the volumetric plasma that is near the target. In the accelerator, the line-charge density increases due to the velocity ramp imparted on the beam bunch. The scientific topics to be explored are warm dense matter, the dynamics of radiation damage in materials, and intense beam and beam-plasma physics including select topics of relevance to the development of heavy-ion drivers for inertial fusion energy. Below the transition to melting, the short beam pulses offer an opportunity to study the multi-scale dynamics of radiation-induced damage in materials with pump-probe experiments, and to stabilize novel metastable phases of materials when short-pulse heating is followed by rapid quenching. First experiments used a lithium ion source; a new plasma-based helium ion source shows much greater charge delivered to the target.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Submitted to the proceedings for the Ninth International Conference on Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications, IFSA 201

Early identification of wound infection: understanding wound odour

Malodorous wounds can be distressing for patients and their families, negatively impacting on quality-of-life outcomes. For health professionals malodorous wounds can also cause distress manifesting in feelings of disgust when faced with a wound emitting an unpleasant or repulsive odour. There has been investigation into the management of controlling odour particularly in relation to fungating wounds. However, there is limited research that explores techniques for early identification and recognition of wound odours that may be indicative of infection. Electronic nose technology has received some attention, but to date has not been integrated into either diagnostics of infection in wounds or education of health professionals to prepare them for the realities of clinical practice

Red or green : Overprinting of the climatic signal in Miocene sediments, South China Sea (IODP Expedition 368, Site U1502)

Funding Information: Support was provided by Chinese 111 (HW), ECORD (SS), Korean IODP (DC), National Science Foundation (ECF), Natural Environment Research Council (SAB) and U.S. Science Support Program, Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory (ECF, PP). Marco Maffione, an anonymous reviewer, the Associate Editor and Max Coleman are kindly acknowledged. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Terra Nova published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Peer reviewedPublisher PD