Primary Care Expenditures before the Onset of Alzheimer's Disease

Objective: To investigate primary care expenditures in the period before diagnosis of AD. Methods: In a population-based sample of Medicare enrollees in New York City, person-level 1996 Medicare claims, summed over primary care encounters, were examined for people who developed AD in 1997 to 1998 and those who did not. Results: People who developed AD were more likely to use Medicare outpatient and ambulatory care 1 to 2 years before diagnosis. Compared with respondents who did not develop AD, the excess cost for men was $1,167 (85$239 (26% higher). Among elderly people ≥75 years in the United States, the prodromal period of AD was associated with an excess Medicare-based primary care cost of $128.5 to$194.7 million. Conclusion: In addition to huge costs associated with AD after diagnosis, prediagnosis costs are an unrecognized source of expenditures related to the disease

Effects of capsinoid ingestion on energy expenditure and lipid oxidation at rest and during exercise

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The thermogenic and metabolic properties of capsinoids appear to mimic those of the more pungent sister compound capsaicin. However, few data exist on how capsinoid ingestion affects energy expenditure in humans and no data exist on its interaction with exercise. We aimed to determine how ingestion of capsinoids affected energy expenditure, lipid oxidation and blood metabolites at rest and during moderate intensity exercise.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twelve healthy young men (age = 24.3 ± 3 yr, BMI = 25.5 ± 1.7 kg·m^-2) were studied on two occasions in a double-blind design following ingestion of either placebo or 10 mg of purified capsinoids at rest, after 90 min of cycling at 55% VO₂peak, and for 30 min into recovery. Subjects ingested the capsules 30 min prior to exercise.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At rest, following ingestion of capsinoids, we observed increases in VO₂and plasma norepinephrine levels, and decreases in concentrations of serum free fatty acids, plasma glycerol and the respiratory exchange ratio (all P < 0.05). At exercise onset, we observed a blunted accumulation of blood lactate with capsinoid ingestion vs. placebo (P < 0.05). There were no other significant differences between the conditions during or post-exercise.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The ingestion of 10 mg of capsinoids increased adrenergic activity, energy expenditure, and resulted in a shift in substrate utilization toward lipid at rest but had little effect during exercise or recovery. The changes we observed confirm previous data on the thermogenic and metabolic effects of capsinoids at rest and further promote its potential role as an adjunct weight loss aid, in addition to diet and exercise.</p

Contract Report for FY 2019 & FY 2020 National Geological & Geophysical Data Preservation Project

The Bureau of Economic Geology has a rich history of mineral exploration and mining that predates its role as the Geological Survey of Texas, established in 1858. Many publications from the United States Geological Survey, United States Bureau of Mines, and Bureau of Economic Geology addressing mineral resources were published before the digital age and the development of the internet. Most of this valuable information is preserved and archived as annual mineral reports, reports of investigations, mineral circulars, and other products published between 1858 and 1990. As part of the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Project funded through the United States Geological Survey, two project goals were developed to assist in the identification of critical minerals in Texas. Project Goal 1 for 2019 and 2020 aimed to acquire and review all publications, materials, and data that reference and describe mineral information, mineral deposits, and occurrences hosting critical minerals. This data was transcribed into provided spreadsheets and information templates, including details such as name, location, geology, resource information on contained commodities, production information, resource or reserve estimations, ore grade, deposit type, mining history, reference citations, and other relevant information. Project Goal 2 aimed to develop a statewide depth to Precambrian basement map in common geospatial digital data format using the national Geologic Map Schema (GeMS) and available seismic and drill core data. Although Precambrian basement has been mapped and interpolated in oil and gas basins, and identified as surface (and near-surface) exposure in central and western Texas, there had not been an effort to compile all of these data into a complete and distributable geospatial dataset and published basement map. The state of Texas boasts abundant well log data, and the Bureau of Economic Geology, functioning as the state geological survey, possesses numerous seismic and geophysical surveys, as well as thousands of cross-sections and drill core data. This project aimed to leverage these resources to create a comprehensive and accessible dataset and map of Precambrian basement depths across the state.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Construction of exact solutions to eigenvalue problems by the asymptotic iteration method

We apply the asymptotic iteration method (AIM) [J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 36, 11807 (2003)] to solve new classes of second-order homogeneous linear differential equation. In particular, solutions are found for a general class of eigenvalue problems which includes Schroedinger problems with Coulomb, harmonic oscillator, or Poeschl-Teller potentials, as well as the special eigenproblems studied recently by Bender et al [J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 34 9835 (2001)] and generalized in the present paper to higher dimensions.Comment: 10 page

Quantised Vortices in an Exciton-Polariton Fluid

One of the most striking quantum effects in a low temperature interacting Bose gas is superfluidity. First observed in liquid 4He, this phenomenon has been intensively studied in a variety of systems for its amazing features such as the persistence of superflows and the quantization of the angular momentum of vortices. The achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in dilute atomic gases provided an exceptional opportunity to observe and study superfluidity in an extremely clean and controlled environment. In the solid state, Bose-Einstein condensation of exciton polaritons has now been reported several times. Polaritons are strongly interacting light-matter quasi-particles, naturally occurring in semiconductor microcavities in the strong coupling regime and constitute a very interesting example of composite bosons. Even though pioneering experiments have recently addressed the propagation of a fluid of coherent polaritons, still no conclusive evidence is yet available of its superfluid nature. In the present Letter, we report the observation of spontaneous formation of pinned quantised vortices in the Bose-condensed phase of a polariton fluid by means of phase and amplitude imaging. Theoretical insight into the possible origin of such vortices is presented in terms of a generalised Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The implications of our observations concerning the superfluid nature of the non-equilibrium polariton fluid are finally discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Mapping the Complex Kinematic Substructure in the TW Hya Disk

We present ALMA observations of CO $J = 2-1$ and CS $J = 5-4$ emission from the disk around TW~Hydrae. Both molecules trace a predominantly Keplerian velocity structure, although a slowing of the rotation velocity is detected at the outer edge of the disk beyond ${\approx}~140$~au in CO emission. This was attributed to the enhanced pressure support from the gas density taper near the outer edge of the disk. Subtraction of an azimuthally symmetric background velocity structure reveals localized deviations in the gas kinematics traced by each of the molecules. Both CO and CS exhibit a `Doppler flip' feature, centered nearly along the minor axis of the disk ({\rm PA} \sim 60\degr) at a radius of 1\farcs35, coinciding with the large gap observed in scattered light and mm~continuum. In addition, the CO emission, both through changes in intensity and its kinematics, traces a tightly wound spiral, previously seen with higher frequency CO $J = 3-2$ observations (Teague et al., 2019). Through comparison with linear models of the spiral wakes generated by embedded planets, we interpret these features in the context of interactions with a Saturn-mass planet within the gap at a position angle of {\rm PA} = 60\degr, consistent with the theoretical predictions of (Mentiplay et al. 2019). The lack of a corresponding spiral in the CS emission is attributed to the strong vertical dependence on the buoyancy spirals which are believed to only grow in the atmospheric of the disk, rather than those traced by CS emission.Comment: Accepted to Ap

Asymptotic iteration method for eigenvalue problems

An asymptotic interation method for solving second-order homogeneous linear differential equations of the form y'' = lambda(x) y' + s(x) y is introduced, where lambda(x) \neq 0 and s(x) are C-infinity functions. Applications to Schroedinger type problems, including some with highly singular potentials, are presented.Comment: 14 page

The Role of Atmospheric Teleconnections and Local Forcings in Predicting Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Mass Loss

In recent decades, the Arctic climate has experienced substantial climactic change, including significant decreases in both sea ice extent and Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) surface mass balance. These trends are overlain by substantial interannual variability in atmospheric circulation driven by large-scale atmospheric teleconnection patterns. In addition, there is evidence to suggest that the removal of Arctic sea ice can alter local atmospheric circulation through increased air temperature, clouds, and water vapor, which may contribute to increased surface melting on the GrIS. Here, we seek to characterize how these processes are linked to Greenland Ice Sheet surface mass loss and constrain how the representation of these forcings can impact the prediction of meltwater runoff within the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) seasonal-to-subseasonal forecasting system (S2S v2.1). To do this, we use a combination of the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis product, retrospective seasonal forecasts from the GEOS S2S v2.1, and independent GEOS simulations. Results from MERRA-2 reanalysis indicate that the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) results in warm surface air temperatures and reduced precipitation across Greenland, both of which act to enhance summer ice surface mass losses. When compared with MERRA-2, retrospective forecasts from the GEOS S2S v2.1 system effectively reproduce the pattern of summer GrIS surface mass loss and demonstrate reasonable skill in predicting the magnitude of meltwater runoff at leads of 1 to 3 months. However, during periods with a strong negative NAO, ice sheet surface mass balance is substantially underestimated. This pattern is also associated with an underprediction of the Greenland Blocking Index height and over prediction of sea ice extent, suggesting that both local and non-local forcings may play a role in the reduced prediction skill during these periods. Using both retrospective forecasts and independent simulations, we characterize the relative importance of local and non-local mechanisms in driving summer GrI