Systemic inflammation predicts all-cause mortality: a Glasgow Inflammation Outcome Study

Introduction: Markers of the systemic inflammatory response, including C-reactive protein and albumin (combined to form the modified Glasgow Prognostic Score), as well as neutrophil, lymphocyte and platelet counts have been shown to be prognostic of survival in patients with cancer. The aim of the present study was to examine the prognostic relationship between these markers of the systemic inflammatory response and all-cause, cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular mortality in a large incidentally sampled cohort.<p></p> Methods: Patients (n = 160 481) who had an incidental blood sample taken between 2000 and 2008 were studied for the prognostic value of C-reactive protein (>10mg/l, albumin (>35mg/l), neutrophil (>7.5×109/l) lymphocyte and platelet counts. Also, patients (n = 52 091) sampled following the introduction of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (>3mg/l) measurements were studied. A combination of these markers, to make cumulative inflammation-based scores, were investigated.<p></p> Results: In all patients (n = 160 481) C-reactive protein (>10mg/l) (HR 2.71, p<0.001), albumin (>35mg/l) (HR 3.68, p<0.001) and neutrophil counts (HR 2.18, p<0.001) were independently predictive of all-cause mortality. These associations were also observed in cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular mortality before and after the introduction of high sensitivity C-reactive protein measurements (>3mg/l) (n = 52 091). A combination of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (>3mg/l), albumin and neutrophil count predicted all-cause (HR 7.37, p<0.001, AUC 0.723), cancer (HR 9.32, p<0.001, AUC 0.731), cardiovascular (HR 4.03, p<0.001, AUC 0.650) and cerebrovascular (HR 3.10, p<0.001, AUC 0.623) mortality. Conclusion The results of the present study showed that an inflammation-based prognostic score, combining high sensitivity C-reactive protein, albumin and neutrophil count is prognostic of all-cause mortality

Combustor flame flashback

Flashback, a problem that occurs in premixed-prevaporized combustors, is the upstream propagation of the flame from the combustor into the premixing tubes. Not only does flashback change the combustion process from premixed burning to diffusion burning, thus creating more pollutants, but it also inflicts considerable damage to the fuel injector, premixing tube and other equipment upstream. The conditions at which flashback occurs in steady burning and the mechanism that causes flashback in both steady and transient flow are studied. The equivalence ratio at which flashback occurs is being measured for inlet temperatures of 600-950 K, premixer wall temperatures of 450-1050 K and premixer velocities of 40-80 ft/s. These data are presented

Damp Mergers: Recent Gaseous Mergers without Significant Globular Cluster Formation?

Here we test the idea that new globular clusters (GCs) are formed in the same gaseous ("wet") mergers or interactions that give rise to the young stellar populations seen in the central regions of many early-type galaxies. We compare mean GC colors with the age of the central galaxy starburst. The red GC subpopulation reveals remarkably constant mean colors independent of galaxy age. A scenario in which the red GC subpopulation is a combination of old and new GCs (formed in the same event as the central galaxy starburst) can not be ruled out; although this would require an age-metallicity relation for the newly formed GCs that is steeper than the Galactic relation. However, the data are also well described by a scenario in which most red GCs are old, and few, if any, are formed in recent gaseous mergers. This is consistent with the old ages inferred from some spectroscopic studies of GCs in external systems. The event that induced the central galaxy starburst may have therefore involved insufficient gas mass for significant GC formation. We term such gas-poor events "damp" mergers.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, ApJ accepte

The genealogy of judgement: towards a deep history of academic freedom

The classical conception of academic freedom associated with Wilhelm von Humboldt and the rise of the modern university has a quite specific cultural foundation that centres on the controversial mental faculty of 'judgement'. This article traces the roots of 'judgement' back to the Protestant Reformation, through its heyday as the signature feature of German idealism, and to its gradual loss of salience as both a philosophical and a psychological concept. This trajectory has been accompanied by a general shrinking in the scope of academic freedom from the promulgation of world-views to the offering of expert opinion

Vicious walkers, friendly walkers and Young tableaux II: With a wall

We derive new results for the number of star and watermelon configurations of vicious walkers in the presence of an impenetrable wall by showing that these follow from standard results in the theory of Young tableaux, and combinatorial descriptions of symmetric functions. For the problem of $n$-friendly walkers, we derive exact asymptotics for the number of stars and watermelons both in the absence of a wall and in the presence of a wall.Comment: 35 pages, AmS-LaTeX; Definitions of n-friendly walkers clarified; the statement of Theorem 4 and its proof were correcte