4,217 research outputs found
Pseudotumor cerebri syndrome in childhood : incidence, clinical profile and risk factors in a national prospective population-based cohort study
Aim To investigate the epidemiology, clinical profile and risk factors of pseudotumor cerebri syndrome (PTCS) in children aged 1-16 years. Methods A national prospective population-based cohort study over 25 months. Newly diagnosed PTCS cases notified via British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU) were ascertained using classical diagnostic criteria and categorised according to 2013 revised diagnostic criteria. We derived national age, sex and weight-specific annual incidence rates and assessed effects of sex and weight category. Results We identified 185 PTCS cases of which 166 also fulfilled revised diagnostic criteria. The national annual incidence (95% CI) of childhood PTCS aged 1-16 years was 0.71 (0.57- 0.87) per 100,000 population increasing with age and weight to 4.18 and 10.7 per 100,000 in obese 12-15 year old boys and girls respectively. Incidence rates under 7 years were similar in both sexes. From 7 years onwards, the incidence in girls was double that in boys, but only in overweight (including obese) children. In 12-15 year old children, an estimated 82% of the incidence of PTCS was attributable to obesity. Two subgroups of PTCS were apparent: 168 (91%) cases aged from 7 years frequently presented on medication and with headache, and were predominantly female and obese. The remaining 17 (9%) cases under 7 years often lacked these risk factors and commonly presented with new onset squint. Conclusions This uniquely largest population-based study of childhood PTCS will inform the design of future intervention studies. It suggests that weight reduction is central to the prevention of PTCS
Why Optically--Faint AGN Are Faint: The Spitzer Perspective
Optically--faint X-ray sources (those with f_X/f_R > 10) constitute about 20%
of X-ray sources in deep surveys, and are potentially highly obscured and/or at
high redshift. Their faint optical fluxes are generally beyond the reach of
spectroscopy. For a sample of 20 optically--faint sources in CDFS, we compile
0.4--24 um photometry, relying heavily on Spitzer. We estimate photometric
redshifts for 17 of these 20 sources. We find that these AGN are
optically--faint both because they lie at significantly higher redshifts
(median z ~ 1.6) than most X-ray--selected AGN, and because their spectra are
much redder than standard AGN. They have 2--8 keV X-ray luminosities in the
Seyfert range, unlike the QSO--luminosities of optically--faint AGN found in
shallow, wide--field surveys. Their contribution to the X-ray Seyfert
luminosity function is comparable to that of z>1 optically--bright AGN.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
The Population of Weak Mg II Absorbers I. A Survey of 26 QSO HIRES/Keck Spectra
We present a search for "weak" MgII absorbers [those with W_r(2796) < 0.3 A
in the HIRES/Keck spectra of 26 QSOs. We found 30, of which 23 are newly
discovered. The spectra are 80% complete to W_r(2796) = 0.02 A and have a
cumulative redshift path of ~17.2 for the redshift range 0.4 < z < 1.4. The
number of absorbers per unit redshift, dN/dz, is seen to increase as the
equivalent width threshold is decreased; we obtained dN/dz = 1.74+/-0.10 for
our 0.02 <= W_r(2796) < 0.3 A sample. The equivalent width distribution follows
a power law with slope -1.0; there is no turnover down to W_r(2796) = 0.02 A at
= 0.9. Weak absorbers comprise at least 65% of the total MgII absorption
population, which outnumbers Lyman limit systems (LLS) by a factor of
3.8+/-1.1; the majority of weak MgII absorbers must arise in sub-LLS
environments. Tentatively, we predict that ~5% of the Lyman-alpha forest clouds
with W_r(1215) > 0.1 A will have detectable MgII absorption to W_r,min(2796) =
0.02 A and that this is primarily a high-metallicity selection effect (Z/Z_sun]
> -1). This implies that MgII absorbing structures figure prominently as
tracers of sub-LLS environments where gas has been processed by stars. We
compare the number density of W_r(2796) > 0.02 A absorbers with that of both
high and low surface brightness galaxies and find a fiducial absorber size of
35h^-1 to 63h^-1 kpc, depending upon the assumed galaxy population and their
absorption properties. The individual absorbing "clouds" have W_r(2796) <= 0.15
A and their narrow (often unresolved) line widths imply temperatures of ~25,000
K. We measured W_r(1548) from CIV in FOS/HST archival spectra and, based upon
comparisons with FeII, found a range of ionization conditions (low, high, and
multi-phase) in absorbers selected by weak MgII.Comment: Accepted Version: 43 pages, PostScript figures embedded; accepted to
ApJ; updated version includes analysis of CIV absorptio
Characterization of uncertainties in atmospheric trace gas inversions using hierarchical Bayesian methods
We present a hierarchical Bayesian method for atmospheric trace gas
inversions. This method is used to estimate emissions of trace gases as well
as "hyper-parameters" that characterize the probability density functions
(PDFs) of the a priori emissions and model-measurement covariances. By
exploring the space of "uncertainties in uncertainties", we show that the
hierarchical method results in a more complete estimation of emissions and
their uncertainties than traditional Bayesian inversions, which rely heavily
on expert judgment. We present an analysis that shows the effect of
including hyper-parameters, which are themselves informed by the data, and
show that this method can serve to reduce the effect of errors in assumptions
made about the a priori emissions and model-measurement uncertainties. We
then apply this method to the estimation of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)
emissions over 2012 for the regions surrounding four Advanced Global
Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) stations. We find that improper
accounting of model representation uncertainties, in particular, can lead to
the derivation of emissions and associated uncertainties that are unrealistic
and show that those derived using the hierarchical method are likely to be
more representative of the true uncertainties in the system. We demonstrate
through this SF6 case study that this method is less sensitive to
outliers in the data and to subjective assumptions about a priori emissions
and model-measurement uncertainties than traditional methods
Spitzer and Hubble Constraints on the Physical Properties of the z~7 Galaxy Strongly Lensed by Abell 2218
We report the detection of a z~7 galaxy strongly lensed by the massive galaxy
cluster Abell 2218 (z=0.175) at 3.6 and 4.5 um using the Spitzer Observatory
and at 1.1 um using the Hubble Space Telescope. The new data indicate a refined
photometric redshift in the range of 6.6-6.8 depending on the presence of
Ly-alpha emission. The spectral energy distribution is consistent with having a
significant Balmer break, suggesting that the galaxy is in the poststarburst
stage with an age of at least ~50 Myr and quite possibly a few hundred Myr.
This suggests the possibility that a mature stellar population is already in
place at such a high redshift. Compared with typical Lyman break galaxies at
z~3-4, the stellar mass is an order of magnitude smaller (~10^{9} Msun), but
the specific star formation rate (star formation rate/M_{star}) is similarly
large (> 10^{-9} yr^{-1}), indicating equally vigorous star-forming activity.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables; Accepted for publication in ApJ
NMR Imaging of low pressure, gas-phase transport in packed beds using hyperpolarized xenon-129
Gas-phase magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used to investigate heterogeneity in mass transport in a packed bed of commercial, alumina, catalyst supports. Hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI enables study of transient diffusion for micro- scopic porous systems using xenon chemical shift to selectively image gas within the pores, and, thence, permits study of low-density, gas-phase mass-transport, such that diffusion can be studied in the Knudsen regime, and not just the molecular regime, which is the limitation with other current techniques. Knudsen-regime diffusion is common in many industrial, catalytic processes. Significantly, larger spatial variability in mass transport rates across the packed bed was found compared to techniques using only molecular diffusion. It has thus been found that that these heterogeneities arise over length-scales much larger tha
Recent and future trends in synthetic greenhouse gas radiative forcing
Atmospheric measurements show that emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons are now the primary drivers of the positive growth in synthetic greenhouse gas (SGHG) radiative forcing. We infer recent SGHG emissions and examine the impact of future emissions scenarios, with a particular focus on proposals to reduce HFC use under the Montreal Protocol. If these proposals are implemented, overall SGHG radiative forcing could peak at around 355 mW m[superscript −2] in 2020, before declining by approximately 26% by 2050, despite continued growth of fully fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions. Compared to “no HFC policy” projections, this amounts to a reduction in radiative forcing of between 50 and 240 mW m[superscript −2] by 2050 or a cumulative emissions saving equivalent to 0.5 to 2.8 years of CO2 emissions at current levels. However, more complete reporting of global HFC emissions is required, as less than half of global emissions are currently accounted for.Natural Environment Research Council (Great Britain) (Advanced Research Fellowship NE/I021365/1)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Upper Atmospheric Research Program Grant NNX11AF17G)United States. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administratio
Observations from Preliminary Experiments on Spatial and Temporal Pressure Measurements from Near-Field Free Air Explosions
It is self-evident that a crucial step in analysing the performance of protective structures is to be able to accurately quantify the blast load arising from a high explosive detonation. For structures located near to the source of a high explosive detonation, the resulting pressure is extremely high in magnitude and highly non-uniform over the face of the target. There exists very little direct measurement of blast parameters in the nearfield, mainly attributed to the lack of instrumentation sufficiently robust to survive extreme loading events yet sensitive enough to capture salient features of the blast. Instead literature guidance is informed largely by early numerical analyses and parametric studies. Furthermore, the lack of an accurate, reliable data set has prevented subsequent numerical analyses from being validated against experimental trials. This paper presents an experimental methodology that has been developed in part to enable such experimental data to be gathered. The experimental apparatus comprises an array of Hopkinson pressure bars, fitted through holes in a target, with the loaded faces of the bars flush with the target face. Thus, the bars are exposed to the normally or obliquely reflected shocks from the impingement of the blast wave with the target. Pressure-time recordings are presented along with associated Arbitary-Langrangian-Eulerian modelling using the LS-DYNA explicit numerical code. Experimental results are corrected for the effects of dispersion of the propagating waves in the pressure bars, enabling accurate characterisation of the peak pressures and impulses from these loadings. The combined results are used to make comments on the mechanism of the pressure load for very near-field blast events
Structure-transport relationships in disordered solids using integrated rate of gas sorption and mercury porosimetry
This work describes a new experimental approach that delivers novel information on structure-transport relationships in disordered porous pellets. Integrated rate of adsorption and mercury porosimetry experiments have been used to probe the relative importance of particular sub-sets of pores to mass transport rates within the network of two disordered porous solids. This was achieved by examining the relative rates of low pressure gas uptake into a network, both before, and after, a known set of pores was filled with frozen, entrapped mercury. For catalyst pellets, formed by tableting, it has been found that the compaction pressure affects the relative contribution to overall mass transport made by the subset of the largest pores. Computerised X-ray tomography (CXT) has been used to map the spatial distribution of entrapped mercury and revealed that the relative importance of the sub-sets of pores is related to their level of pervasiveness across the pellet, and whether they percolate to the centre of the pellet. It has been shown that a combination of integrated mercury porosimetry and gas sorption, together with CXT, can comprehensively reveal the impact of manufacturing process parameters on pellet structure and mass transport properties. Hence, the new method can be used in the design and optimisation of pellet manufacturing processes
- …