Menus for Feeding Black Holes

Black holes are the ultimate prisons of the Universe, regions of spacetime where the enormous gravity prohibits matter or even light to escape to infinity. Yet, matter falling toward the black holes may shine spectacularly, generating the strongest source of radiation. These sources provide us with astrophysical laboratories of extreme physical conditions that cannot be realized on Earth. This chapter offers a review of the basic menus for feeding matter onto black holes and discusses their observational implications.Comment: 27 pages. Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Also to appear in hard cover in the Space Sciences Series of ISSI "The Physics of Accretion onto Black Holes" (Springer Publisher

Structural abnormalities of the central auditory pathway in infants with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate

Objective: To investigate possible structural abnormalities of the central auditory pathway in infants with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate (NSCL/P). Participants: Twenty-seven Chinese infants with NSCL/P, aged from 6 to 24 months. Intervention: Morphological magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements of the central auditory nervous system (CANS) in infants with NSCL/P were analyzed and compared with those of age- and sex-matched normal controls. Results: No significant group differences were found in general brain measurements, including volumes of the brain stem and right hemisphere. However, infants with NSCL/P had statistically significantly smaller volumes of the left thalamus and left auditory cortex and notably decreased thickness of the left auditory cortex. Conclusion: Cortical abnormalities were more marked compared with other MRI measurements. Structural CANS abnormalities in infants with NSCL/P may be located mainly in the left cerebral hemisphere. The development and maturation of the auditory cortex in infants with NSCL/P may be abnormal when compared with those of normal children.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Infant orthopedics in UCLP: effect on feeding, weight, and length: a randomized clinical trial (Dutchcleft).

Contains fulltext : 48048.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of infant orthopedics (IO) on feeding, weight, and length. DESIGN: Prospective two-arm randomized controlled trial in three academic Cleft Palate Centers. Treatment allocation was concealed and performed by means of a computerized balanced allocation method. SETTING: Cleft Palate Centers of Amsterdam, Nijmegen, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands. PATIENTS: Infants with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP), no other malformations. INTERVENTIONS: One group (IO+) wore passive maxillary plates during the first year of life, but the other group (IO-) did not. All other interventions were the same for both groups. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Bottle feeding velocity (mL/min) at intake, 3, 6, 15, and 24 weeks (T0 to T24); weight-for-age, length-for-age, and weight-for-length using z scores; reference values from the Netherlands' third nationwide survey on growth. RESULTS: Feeding velocity increased with time from 2.9 to 13.2 mL/min in the IO- group and from 2.6 to 13.8 mL/min in the IO+ group; no significant differences were found between groups. Weight-for-age, length-for-age, and weight-for-length (z scores) did not differ significantly between groups, but overall the infants with unilateral cleft lip and palate in both groups had significantly lower mean z scores for weight-for-age and height-for-age than the reference during the first 14 months, and had lower mean values for weight-for-length after soft palate closure. CONCLUSION: Infant orthopedics with the aim of improving feeding and consequent nutritional status in infants with unilateral cleft lip and palate can be abandoned