Pulsar Wind Nebulae in EGRET Error Boxes

A remarkable number of pulsar wind nebulae (PWN) are coincident with EGRET gamma-ray sources. X-ray and radio imaging studies of unidentified EGRET sources have resulted in the discovery of at least 6 new pulsar wind nebulae (PWN). Stationary PWN (SPWN) appear to be associated with steady EGRET sources with hard spectra, typical for gamma-ray pulsars. Their toroidal morphologies can help determine the geometry of the pulsar which is useful for constraining models of pulsed gamma-ray emission. Rapidly moving PWN (RPWN) with more cometary morphologies seem to be associated with variable EGRET sources in regions where the ambient medium is dense compared to what is typical for the ISM.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "The Multiwavelength Approach to Unidentified Sources", ed. G. Romero & K.S. Chen

Alcohol consumption and leukocyte telomere length.

The relationship between alcohol consumption and mortality generally exhibits a U-shaped curve. The longevity observed with moderate alcohol consumption may be explained by other confounding factors, and, if such a relationship is present, the mechanism is not well understood. Indeed, the optimal amount of alcohol consumption for health has yet to be determined. Leukocyte telomere length is an emerging quantifiable marker of biological age and health, and a shorter telomere length is a predictor of increased mortality. Because leukocyte telomere length is a quantifiable and objectively measurable biomarker of aging, we sought to identify the amount of alcohol consumption associated with the longest telomere length and least telomere length attrition. Among over 2,000 participants from two distinct cohort studies, we found no pattern of alcohol consumption that was associated with longer telomere length or less telomere length attrition over time. Binge drinking may reduce telomere length. Using telomere length as a marker of age and health, these data fail to demonstrate any benefits of alcohol consumption, even when consumed in moderation

Antibiotic dosing in the 'at risk' critically ill patient: Linking pathophysiology with pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics in sepsis and trauma patients

Background: Critical illness, mediated by trauma or sepsis, can lead to physiological changes that alter the pharmacokinetics of antibiotics and may result in sub-therapeutic concentrations at the sites of infection. The first aim of this project is to identify the clinical characteristics of critically ill patients with significant trauma that have been recently admitted to ICU that may predict the dosing requirements for the antibiotic, cefazolin. The second aim of this is to identify the clinical characteristics of critically ill patients with sepsis that may predict the dosing requirements for the combination antibiotic, piperacillin-tazobactam

Adoption of Conservation-Tillage Practices in Cotton Production

Replaced with revised version of paper 10/23/07.conservation tillage, cotton, genetically modified seed, herbicide-resistant cotton, stacked-gene cotton, simultaneous logit model, single-equation logit model, technology adoption, Crop Production/Industries,

Towards Precision Medicine: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring–Guided Dosing of Vancomycin and β-lactam Antibiotics to Maximize Effectiveness and Minimize Toxicity

Purpose The goal of this review is to explore the role of antimicrobial therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), especially in critically ill, obese, and older adults, with a specific focus on β-lactams and vancomycin. Summary The continued rise of antimicrobial resistance prompts the need to optimize antimicrobial dosing. The aim of TDM is to individualize antimicrobial dosing to achieve antibiotic exposures associated with improved patient outcomes. Initially, TDM was developed to minimize adverse effects during use of narrow therapeutic index agents. Today, patient and organism complexity are expanding the need for precision dosing through TDM services. Alterations of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) in the critically ill, obese, and older adult populations, in conjunction with declining organism susceptibility, complicate attainment of therapeutic targets. Over the last decade, antimicrobial TDM has expanded with the emergence of literature supporting β-lactam TDM and a shift from monitoring vancomycin trough concentrations to monitoring of the ratio of area under the concentration (AUC) curve to minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). PK/PD experts should be at the forefront of implementing precision dosing practices. Conclusion Precision dosing through TDM is expanding and is especially important in populations with altered PK/PD, including critically ill, obese, and older adults. Due to wide PK/PD variability in these populations, TDM is vital to maximize antimicrobial effectiveness and decrease adverse event rates. However, there is still a need for studies connecting TDM to patient outcomes. Providing patient-specific care through β-lactam TDM and transitioning to vancomycin AUC/MIC monitoring may be challenging, but with experts at the forefront of this initiative, PK-based optimization of antimicrobial therapy can be achieved

Estimating uncertainty in density surface models

This work was funded by OPNAV N45 and the SURTASS LFA Settlement Agreement, and being managed by the U.S. Navy’s Living Marine Resources program under Contract No. N39430-17-C-1982.Providing uncertainty estimates for predictions derived from species distribution models is essential for management but there is little guidance on potential sources of uncertainty in predictions and how best to combine these. Here we show where uncertainty can arise in density surface models (a multi-stage spatial modelling approach for distance sampling data), focussing on cetacean density modelling. We propose an extensible, modular, hybrid analytical-simulation approach to encapsulate these sources. We provide example analyses of fin whales Balaenoptera physalus in the California Current Ecosystem.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Stable accumulation patterns around Dome C, East Antarctica, over the last glacial cycle

Abstract. We reconstruct the pattern of surface accumulation in the region around Dome C, East Antarctica, through the last glacial cycle. We use a set of internal isochrones interpreted from various ice-penetrating radar surveys and a 1D pseudo-steady ice flow model to invert for both time-averaged accumulation rates and paleoaccumulation rates between isochrone pairs. We observe that the surface accumulation pattern is stable through the last 128 kyrs, both the large-scale (100s km) gradients which reflect current modeled and observed precipitation gradients in the region, as well as the small-scale (10s km) accumulation variations linked to snow redistribution at the surface due to changes in its slope and curvature in the prevailing wind direction. This suggests a stable position of the dome throughout the last glacial cycle

Modelling the Response of Ice Shelf Basal Melting to Different Ocean Cavity Environmental Regimes

We present simulation results from a version of the Regional Ocean Modeling System modified for ice shelf/ocean interaction, including the parameterisation of basal melting by molecular diffusion alone. Simulations investigate the differences in melting for an idealised ice shelf experiencing a range of cold to hot ocean cavity conditions. Both the pattern of melt and the location of maximum melt shift due to changes in the buoyancy-driven circulation, in a different way to previous studies. Tidal forcing increases both the circulation strength and melting, with the strongest impact on the cold cavity case. Our results highlight the importance of including a complete melt parameterisation and tidal forcing. In response to the 2.4 degrees C ocean warming initially applied to a cold cavity ice shelf, we find that melting will increase by about an order of magnitude (24 x with tides and 41 x without tides)

Imported Case of Poliomyelitis, Melbourne, Australia, 2007

Wild poliovirus–associated paralytic poliomyelitis has not been reported in Australia since 1977. We report type 1 wild poliovirus infection in a man who had traveled from Pakistan to Australia in 2007. Poliomyelitis should be considered for patients with acute flaccid paralysis or unexplained fever who have been to poliomyelitis-endemic countries

Evidence from neurolinguistic methodologies: can it actually inform linguistic/ language acquisition theories and translate to evidence-based applications?

This special issue is a testament to the recent burgeoning interest by theoretical linguists, language acquisitionists and teaching practitioners in the neuroscience of language. It offers a highly valuable, state-of-the-art overview of the neurophysiological methods that are currently being applied to questions in the field of second language (L2) acquisition, teaching and processing. Research in the area of neurolinguistics has developed dramatically in the past twenty years, providing a wealth of exciting findings, many of which are discussed in the papers in this volume. The goal of this commentary is twofold. The first is to critically assess the current state of neurolinguistic data from the point of view of language acquisition and processing—informed by the papers that comprise this special issue and the literature as a whole—pondering how the neuroscience of language/processing might inform us with respect to linguistic and language acquisition theories. The second goal is to offer some links from implications of exploring the first goal towards informing language teachers and the creation of linguistically and neurolinguistically-informed evidence-based pedagogies for non-native language teaching