Measurement of OH reactivity by laser flash photolysis coupled with laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy

OH reactivity (k’OH) is the total pseudo-first-order loss rate coefficient describing the removal of OH radicals to all sinks in the atmosphere, and is the inverse of the chemical lifetime of OH. Measurements of ambient OH reactivity can be used to discover the extent to which measured OH sinks contribute to the total OH loss rate. Thus, OH reactivity measurements enable determination of the comprehensiveness of measurements used in models to predict air quality and ozone production, and, in conjunction with measurements of OH radical concentrations, to assess our understanding of OH production rates. In this work, we describe the design and characterisation of an instrument to measure OH reactivity using laser flash photolysis coupled to laser-induced fluorescence (LFP-LIF) spectroscopy. The LFP-LIF technique produces OH radicals in isolation, and thus minimises potential interferences in OH reactivity measurements owing to the reaction of HO2 with NO which can occur if HO2 is co-produced with OH in the instrument. Capabilities of the instrument for ambient OH reactivity measurements are illustrated by data collected during field campaigns in London, UK, and York, UK. The instrumental limit of detection for k’OH was determined to be 1.0 s-1 for the campaign in London and 0.4 s-1 for the campaign in York. The precision, determined by laboratory experiment, is typically < 1 s-1 for most ambient measurements of OH reactivity. Total uncertainty in ambient measurements of OH reactivity is ~6 %. We also present the coupling and characterisation of the LFP-LIF instrument to an atmospheric chamber for measurements of OH reactivity during simulated experiments, and provide suggestions for future improvements to OH reactivity LFP-LIF instruments

Oneida nation of New York: health needs assessment 1990

This is the report of a health needs assessment for the Oneida Indian Nation of New York (ONNY). This needs assessment was conducted in order to collect population-based data related to behavioral risks and reproductive health for Oneida males and females. The survey of the Oneida was initiated because there is almost no risk factor data available on Indian tribes of the northeast, and none available for the Oneida Nation of New York. There are four primary goals for the 1990 Oneida Nation Health Needs Assessment. They are 1) to collect behavioral risk factor and reproductive health data for adult Oneida Nation members living on or near Oneida Nation lands, 2) to assess the current basic health needs of the ONNY, 3) to document the medical providers and hospitals which are currently being utilized by the Nation members and. 4) to develop recommendations for use by health planners from this baseline data.The Oneida Nation Health Needs Assessment (ONHNA) was carried out among enrolled members of the Oneida Nation who were 18 years of age and older who lived in the six counties that are contiguous to the Oneida Nation lands. The Nation Enrollment List was used to identify the Oneida population located in the six-county area. The choice to interview only adults was made to avoid legal difficulties in interviewing minors. Interviewing was conducted in each household face-to-face rather than using mailed questionnaires or telephone contact. All interviewers were enrolled Oneida Nation members. Interviews were conducted by interviewers of the same sex as the respondent. All interviewers participated in one week of training prior to the start of the field work. Four types of data were collected. First, the behavioral risk factors surveyed were related to the 10 leading causes of death in the United States. Behavioral factors include seat belt usage, physical exercise, diet, cigarette and smokeless tobacco usage, alcohol consumption, and the existence of high blood pressure. The second data set included health needs. The survey questions dealt with the prevalence of current diseases and health problems among the Oneidas, and with whether the Oneida people have routine screening tests such as cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension, and eye exams, pap smears, breast exams, and rectal exams. The third set of data questions focused on reproductive health factors. Questions covered topics such as fertility, contraception, and general maternal-child health conditions. The fourth and final set of questions gathered data on health care utilization. This data will be used to establish health provider contracts with physicians, dentists, pediatricians, and hospitals to provide quality health care for a more reasonable cost. For each risk factor, comparisons were made between the Oneida Nation and data from the 1988 New York State Behavioral Risk Factor Survey.The individual completion rates were 54% for females and 69% for males for a total of 211 respondents in all. The following is an abbreviated summary of selected data from the survey. Seat belt use was only slightly lower than for all New Yorkers. Non-use was highest among young drivers. Sixty percent of Oneida males and 78 percent of Oneida females reported having their blood pressure taken within a year of the survey. All Oneida members were more active physically than the general New York population. However, all Oneida members were more likely to be overweight by comparison Forty percent of all Oneida people are smokers compared to 25 percent of the New York population. Fifty-seven percent of Oneida males and 32 percent of Oneida females are classified as acute and heavy drinkers. Percentages for regular health checks across all factors vary considerably among the Oneida people. Several areas of concern were identified including cholesterol checks, diabetes screening, rectal exams and mammograms. The completed fertility of the Oneida women in this survey is 2.1 children which is lower than that of all U.S. women surveyed in the 1980 census. Female sterilization is the most prevalent contraceptive method among Oneida women. as it is among the general U.S. population.With respect to behavioral risks, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption are of major concern. This impacts on concerns for overall reproductive health. The task now is to identify the highest priority objectives and to secure resources needed to accomplish these tasks

Rare coding SNP in DZIP1 gene associated with late-onset sporadic Parkinson's disease

We present the first application of the hypothesis-rich mathematical theory to genome-wide association data. The Hamza et al. late-onset sporadic Parkinson's disease genome-wide association study dataset was analyzed. We found a rare, coding, non-synonymous SNP variant in the gene DZIP1 that confers increased susceptibility to Parkinson's disease. The association of DZIP1 with Parkinson's disease is consistent with a Parkinson's disease stem-cell ageing theory.Comment: 14 page

A Natural Supersymmetric Model with MeV Dark Matter

It has previously been proposed that annihilating dark matter particles with MeV-scale masses could be responsible for the flux of 511 keV photons observed from the region of the Galactic Bulge. The conventional wisdom, however, is that it is very challenging to construct a viable particle physics model containing MeV dark matter. In this letter, we challenge this conclusion by describing a simple and natural supersymmetric model in which the lightest supersymmetric particle naturally has a MeV-scale mass and the other phenomenological properties required to generate the 511 keV emission. In particular, the small ($\sim$ $10^{-5}$) effective couplings between dark matter and the Standard Model fermions required in this scenario naturally lead to radiative corrections that generate MeV-scale masses for both the dark matter candidate and the mediator particle.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. v2: Small modification to discussion of spectru

Metabolomic and lipidomic plasma profile changes in human participants ascending to Everest Base Camp.

At high altitude oxygen delivery to the tissues is impaired leading to oxygen insufficiency (hypoxia). Acclimatisation requires adjustment to tissue metabolism, the details of which remain incompletely understood. Here, metabolic responses to progressive environmental hypoxia were assessed through metabolomic and lipidomic profiling of human plasma taken from 198 human participants before and during an ascent to Everest Base Camp (5,300 m). Aqueous and lipid fractions of plasma were separated and analysed using proton (1H)-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and direct infusion mass spectrometry, respectively. Bayesian robust hierarchical regression revealed decreasing isoleucine with ascent alongside increasing lactate and decreasing glucose, which may point towards increased glycolytic rate. Changes in the lipid profile with ascent included a decrease in triglycerides (48-50 carbons) associated with de novo lipogenesis, alongside increases in circulating levels of the most abundant free fatty acids (palmitic, linoleic and oleic acids). Together, this may be indicative of fat store mobilisation. This study provides the first broad metabolomic account of progressive exposure to environmental hypobaric hypoxia in healthy humans. Decreased isoleucine is of particular interest as a potential contributor to muscle catabolism observed with exposure to hypoxia at altitude. Substantial changes in lipid metabolism may represent important metabolic responses to sub-acute exposure to environmental hypoxia.King's College London, National Institute of Health Researc

Fluid Optimisation in Emergency Laparotomy (FLO-ELA) Trial: study protocol for a multi-centre randomised trial of cardiac output-guided fluid therapy compared to usual care in patients undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery

INTRODUCTION: Postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery are a major burden on healthcare systems. Optimal management of perioperative intravenous fluids may reduce mortality rates and improve outcomes from surgery. Previous small trials of cardiac-output guided haemodynamic therapy algorithms in patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery have suggested this intervention results in reduced complications and a modest reduction in mortality. However, this existing evidence is based mainly on elective (planned) surgery, with little evaluation in the emergency setting. There are fundamental clinical and pathophysiological differences between the planned and emergency surgical setting which may influence the effects of this intervention. A large definitive trial in emergency surgery is needed to confirm or refute the potential benefits observed in elective surgery and to inform widespread clinical practice. METHODS: The FLO-ELA trial is a multi-centre, parallel-group, open, randomised controlled trial. 3138 patients aged 50 and over undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery will be randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio using minimisation to minimally invasive cardiac output monitoring to guide protocolised administration of intra-venous fluid, or usual care without cardiac output monitoring. The trial intervention will be carried out during surgery and for up to 6 h postoperatively. The trial is funded through an efficient design call by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme and uses existing routinely collected datasets for the majority of data collection. The primary outcome is the number of days alive and out of hospital within 90 days of randomisation. Participants and those delivering the intervention will not be blinded to treatment allocation. Participant recruitment started in September 2017 with a 1-year internal pilot phase and is ongoing at the time of publication. DISCUSSION: This will be the largest contemporary randomised trial examining the effectiveness of perioperative cardiac output-guided haemodynamic therapy in patients undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery. The multi-centre design and broad inclusion criteria support the external validity of the trial. Although the clinical teams delivering the trial interventions will not be blinded, significant trial outcome measures are objective and not subject to detection bias. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN 14729158. Registered on 02 May 2017

Human pluripotent embryonal carcinoma NTERA2 cl.D1 cells maintain their typical morphology in an angiomyogenic medium

BACKGROUND: Pluripotent embryonal carcinomas are good potential models, to study, "in vitro," the mechanisms that control differentiation during embryogenesis. The NTERA2cl.D1 (NT2/D1) cell line is a well known system of ectodermal differentiation. Retinoic acid (RA) induces a dorsal pattern of differentiation (essentially neurons) and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) or hexamethylenebisacetamide (HMBA) induces a more ventral (epidermal) pattern of differentiation. However, whether these human cells could give rise to mesoderm derivatives as their counterpart in mouse remained elusive. We analyzed the morphological characteristics and transcriptional activation of genes pertinent in cardiac muscle and endothelium differentiation, during the growth of NT2/D1 cells in an inductive angiomyogenic medium with or without Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 (BMP2). RESULTS: Our experiments showed that NT2/D1 maintains their typical actin organization in angiomyogenic medium. Although the beta myosin heavy chain gene was never detected, all the other 15 genes analyzed maintained their expression throughout the time course of the experiment. Among them were early and late cardiac, endothelial, neuronal and teratocarcinoma genes. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that despite the NT2/D1 cells natural tendency to differentiate into neuroectodermal lineages, they can activate genes of mesodermal lineages. Therefore, we believe that these pluripotent cells might still be a good model to study biological development of mesodermal derivatives, provided the right culture conditions are met

Multisensory information facilitates reaction speed by enlarging activity difference between superior colliculus hemispheres in rats

Animals can make faster behavioral responses to multisensory stimuli than to unisensory stimuli. The superior colliculus (SC), which receives multiple inputs from different sensory modalities, is considered to be involved in the initiation of motor responses. However, the mechanism by which multisensory information facilitates motor responses is not yet understood. Here, we demonstrate that multisensory information modulates competition among SC neurons to elicit faster responses. We conducted multiunit recordings from the SC of rats performing a two-alternative spatial discrimination task using auditory and/or visual stimuli. We found that a large population of SC neurons showed direction-selective activity before the onset of movement in response to the stimuli irrespective of stimulation modality. Trial-by-trial correlation analysis showed that the premovement activity of many SC neurons increased with faster reaction speed for the contraversive movement, whereas the premovement activity of another population of neurons decreased with faster reaction speed for the ipsiversive movement. When visual and auditory stimuli were presented simultaneously, the premovement activity of a population of neurons for the contraversive movement was enhanced, whereas the premovement activity of another population of neurons for the ipsiversive movement was depressed. Unilateral inactivation of SC using muscimol prolonged reaction times of contraversive movements, but it shortened those of ipsiversive movements. These findings suggest that the difference in activity between the SC hemispheres regulates the reaction speed of motor responses, and multisensory information enlarges the activity difference resulting in faster responses