809 research outputs found
Association of MRI T1 relaxation time with neuropsychological test performance in manganese- exposed welders
This study examines the results of neuropsychological testing of 26 active welders and 17 similar controls and their relationship to welders' shortened MRI T1 relaxation time, indicative of increased brain manganese (Mn) accumulation. Welders were exposed to Mn for an average duration of 12.25 years to average levels of Mn in air of 0.11±0.05mg/m3. Welders scored significantly worse than controls on Fruit Naming and the Parallel Lines test of graphomotor tremor. Welders had shorter MRI T1 relaxation times than controls in the globus pallidus, substantia nigra, caudate nucleus, and the anterior prefrontal lobe. 63% of the variation in MRI T1 relaxation times was accounted for by exposure group. In welders, lower relaxation times in the caudate nucleus and substantia nigra were associated with lower neuropsychological test performance on tests of verbal fluency (Fruit Naming), verbal learning, memory, and perseveration (WHO-UCLA AVLT). Results indicate that verbal function may be one of the first cognitive domains affected by brain Mn deposition in welders as reflected by MRI T1 relaxation times
The nucleon's strange electromagnetic and scalar matrix elements
Quenched lattice QCD simulations and quenched chiral perturbation theory are
used together for this study of strangeness in the nucleon. Dependences of the
matrix elements on strange quark mass, valence quark mass and momentum transfer
are discussed in both the lattice and chiral frameworks. The combined results
of this study are in good agreement with existing experimental data and
predictions are made for upcoming experiments. Possible future refinements of
the theoretical method are suggested.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure
Markov Properties of Electrical Discharge Current Fluctuations in Plasma
Using the Markovian method, we study the stochastic nature of electrical
discharge current fluctuations in the Helium plasma. Sinusoidal trends are
extracted from the data set by the Fourier-Detrended Fluctuation analysis and
consequently cleaned data is retrieved. We determine the Markov time scale of
the detrended data set by using likelihood analysis. We also estimate the
Kramers-Moyal's coefficients of the discharge current fluctuations and derive
the corresponding Fokker-Planck equation. In addition, the obtained Langevin
equation enables us to reconstruct discharge time series with similar
statistical properties compared with the observed in the experiment. We also
provide an exact decomposition of temporal correlation function by using
Kramers-Moyal's coefficients. We show that for the stationary time series, the
two point temporal correlation function has an exponential decaying behavior
with a characteristic correlation time scale. Our results confirm that, there
is no definite relation between correlation and Markov time scales. However
both of them behave as monotonic increasing function of discharge current
intensity. Finally to complete our analysis, the multifractal behavior of
reconstructed time series using its Keramers-Moyal's coefficients and original
data set are investigated. Extended self similarity analysis demonstrates that
fluctuations in our experimental setup deviates from Kolmogorov (K41) theory
for fully developed turbulence regime.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures and 4 tables. V3: Added comments, references,
figures and major correction
Quintessence and Gravitational Waves
We investigate some aspects of quintessence models with a non-minimally
coupled scalar field and in particular we show that it can behave as a
component of matter with . We study the
properties of gravitational waves in this class of models and discuss their
energy spectrum and the cosmic microwave background anisotropies they induce.
We also show that gravitational waves are damped by the anisotropic stress of
the radiation and that their energy spectrum may help to distinguish between
inverse power law potential and supergravity motivated potential. We finish by
a discussion on the constraints arising from their density parameter
\Omega_\GW.Comment: 21 pages, 18 figures, fianl version, accepted for publication in PR
Metabolic Syndrome Predicts New Onset of Chronic Kidney Disease in 5,829 Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A 5-year prospective analysis of the Hong Kong Diabetes Registry
OBJECTIVE—Type 2 diabetes is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease worldwide. Aside from hyperglycemia and hypertension, other metabolic factors may determine renal outcome. We examined risk associations of metabolic syndrome with new onset of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in 5,829 Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes enrolled between 1995 and 2005
Aldose Reductase Genotypes and Cardiorenal Complications: An 8-year prospective analysis of 1,074 type 2 diabetic patients
OBJECTIVE—We report the independent risk association of type 2 diabetic nephropathy with the z−2 allele of the 5′-(CA)n microsatellite and C-106T promoter polymorphisms of the aldose reductase gene (ALR2) using a case-control design. In this expanded cohort, we examined their predictive roles on new onset of cardiorenal complications using a prospective design
Additive Interaction of Hyperglycemia and Albuminuria on Risk of Ischemic Stroke in Type 2 Diabetes: Hong Kong Diabetes Registry
OBJECTIVE—The study aims to test whether biological interaction between hyperglycemia and albuminuria can explain the inconsistent findings from epidemiological studies and clinical trials about effects of hyperglycemia on stroke in type 2 diabetes
Application of Autologous Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells to an Ovine Model of Growth Plate Cartilage Injury
Injury to growth plate cartilage in children can lead to bone bridge formation and result in bone growth deformities, a significant clinical problem currently lacking biological treatment. Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC) offer a promising therapeutic option for regeneration of damaged cartilage, due to their self renewing and multi-lineage differentiation attributes. Although some small animal model studies highlight the therapeutic potential of MSC for growth plate repair, translational research in large animal models, which more closely resemble the human condition, are lacking. Our laboratory has recently characterised MSCs derived from ovine bone marrow, and demonstrated these cells form cartilage-like tissue when transplanted within the gelatin sponge, Gelfoam, in vivo. In the current study, autologous bone marrow MSC were seeded into Gelfoam scaffold containing TGF-β1, and transplanted into a surgically created defect of the proximal ovine tibial growth plate. Examination of implants at 5 week post-operatively revealed transplanted autologous MSC failed to form new cartilage structure at the defect site, but contributed to an increase in formation of a dense fibrous tissue. Importantly, the extent of osteogenesis was diminished, and bone bridge formation was not accelerated due to transplantation of MSCs or the gelatin scaffold. The current study represents the first work that has utilised this ovine large animal model to investigate whether autologous bone marrow derived MSC can be used to initiate regeneration at the injured growth plate
Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities
A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by
the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an
explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were
chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in
2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that
time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the
broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles
could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII
program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the -factories and CLEO-c
flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the
Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the
deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality,
precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for
continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states
unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such
as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the
spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b},
and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical
approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The
intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have
emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and
cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review
systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing
directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K.
Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D.
Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A.
Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair
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