Equilibration processes in the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium

The Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM) is thought to contribute about 40-50 % to the baryonic budget at the present evolution stage of the universe. The observed large scale structure is likely to be due to gravitational growth of density fluctuations in the post-inflation era. The evolving cosmic web is governed by non-linear gravitational growth of the initially weak density fluctuations in the dark energy dominated cosmology. Non-linear structure formation, accretion and merging processes, star forming and AGN activity produce gas shocks in the WHIM. Shock waves are converting a fraction of the gravitation power to thermal and non-thermal emission of baryonic/leptonic matter. They provide the most likely way to power the luminous matter in the WHIM. The plasma shocks in the WHIM are expected to be collisionless. Collisionless shocks produce a highly non-equilibrium state with anisotropic temperatures and a large differences in ion and electron temperatures. We discuss the ion and electron heating by the collisionless shocks and then review the plasma processes responsible for the Coulomb equilibration and collisional ionisation equilibrium of oxygen ions in the WHIM. MHD-turbulence produced by the strong collisionless shocks could provide a sizeable non-thermal contribution to the observed Doppler parameter of the UV line spectra of the WHIM.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews, special issue "Clusters of galaxies: beyond the thermal view", Editor J.S. Kaastra, Chapter 8; work done by an international team at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, organised by J.S. Kaastra, A.M. Bykov, S. Schindler & J.A.M. Bleeke

An analysis of growth, differentiation and apoptosis genes with risk of renal cancer

We conducted a case-control study of renal cancer (987 cases and 1298 controls) in Central and Eastern Europe and analyzed genomic DNA for 319 tagging single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 21 genes involved in cellular growth, differentiation and apoptosis using an Illumina Oligo Pool All (OPA). A haplotype-based method (sliding window analysis of consecutive SNPs) was used to identify chromosome regions of interest that remained significant at a false discovery rate of 10%. Subsequently, risk estimates were generated for regions with a high level of signal and individual SNPs by unconditional logistic regression adjusting for age, gender and study center. Three regions containing genes associated with renal cancer were identified: caspase 1/5/4/ 12(CASP 1/5/4/12), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP3). We observed that individuals with CASP1/5/4/12 haplotype (spanning area upstream of CASP1 through exon 2 of CASP5) GGGCTCAGT were at higher risk of renal cancer compared to individuals with the most common haplotype (OR:1.40, 95% CI:1.10-1.78, p-value = 0.007). Analysis of EGFR revealed three strong signals within intron 1, particularly a region centered around rs759158 with a global p = 0.006 (GGG: OR:1.26, 95% CI:1.04-1.53 and ATG: OR:1.55, 95% CI:1.14-2.11). A region in IGFBP3 was also associated with increased risk (global p = 0.04). In addition, the number of statistically significant (p-value 0.05) SNP associations observed within these three genes was higher than would be expected by chance on a gene level. To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate these genes in relation to renal cancer and there is need to replicate and extend our findings. The specific regions associated with risk may have particular relevance for gene function and/or carcinogenesis. In conclusion, our evaluation has identified common genetic variants in CASP1, CASP5, EGFR, and IGFBP3 that could be associated with renal cancer risk

Global surveillance of cancer survival 1995-2009: analysis of individual data for 25,676,887 patients from 279 population-based registries in 67 countries (CONCORD-2)

BACKGROUND: Worldwide data for cancer survival are scarce. We aimed to initiate worldwide surveillance of cancer survival by central analysis of population-based registry data, as a metric of the effectiveness of health systems, and to inform global policy on cancer control. METHODS: Individual tumour records were submitted by 279 population-based cancer registries in 67 countries for 25·7 million adults (age 15-99 years) and 75,000 children (age 0-14 years) diagnosed with cancer during 1995-2009 and followed up to Dec 31, 2009, or later. We looked at cancers of the stomach, colon, rectum, liver, lung, breast (women), cervix, ovary, and prostate in adults, and adult and childhood leukaemia. Standardised quality control procedures were applied; errors were corrected by the registry concerned. We estimated 5-year net survival, adjusted for background mortality in every country or region by age (single year), sex, and calendar year, and by race or ethnic origin in some countries. Estimates were age-standardised with the International Cancer Survival Standard weights. FINDINGS: 5-year survival from colon, rectal, and breast cancers has increased steadily in most developed countries. For patients diagnosed during 2005-09, survival for colon and rectal cancer reached 60% or more in 22 countries around the world; for breast cancer, 5-year survival rose to 85% or higher in 17 countries worldwide. Liver and lung cancer remain lethal in all nations: for both cancers, 5-year survival is below 20% everywhere in Europe, in the range 15-19% in North America, and as low as 7-9% in Mongolia and Thailand. Striking rises in 5-year survival from prostate cancer have occurred in many countries: survival rose by 10-20% between 1995-99 and 2005-09 in 22 countries in South America, Asia, and Europe, but survival still varies widely around the world, from less than 60% in Bulgaria and Thailand to 95% or more in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the USA. For cervical cancer, national estimates of 5-year survival range from less than 50% to more than 70%; regional variations are much wider, and improvements between 1995-99 and 2005-09 have generally been slight. For women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005-09, 5-year survival was 40% or higher only in Ecuador, the USA, and 17 countries in Asia and Europe. 5-year survival for stomach cancer in 2005-09 was high (54-58%) in Japan and South Korea, compared with less than 40% in other countries. By contrast, 5-year survival from adult leukaemia in Japan and South Korea (18-23%) is lower than in most other countries. 5-year survival from childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is less than 60% in several countries, but as high as 90% in Canada and four European countries, which suggests major deficiencies in the management of a largely curable disease. INTERPRETATION: International comparison of survival trends reveals very wide differences that are likely to be attributable to differences in access to early diagnosis and optimum treatment. Continuous worldwide surveillance of cancer survival should become an indispensable source of information for cancer patients and researchers and a stimulus for politicians to improve health policy and health-care systems

Global maps of soil temperature.

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km <sup>2</sup> resolution for 0-5 and 5-15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km <sup>2</sup> pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world's major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

An Observational Overview of Solar Flares

We present an overview of solar flares and associated phenomena, drawing upon a wide range of observational data primarily from the RHESSI era. Following an introductory discussion and overview of the status of observational capabilities, the article is split into topical sections which deal with different areas of flare phenomena (footpoints and ribbons, coronal sources, relationship to coronal mass ejections) and their interconnections. We also discuss flare soft X-ray spectroscopy and the energetics of the process. The emphasis is to describe the observations from multiple points of view, while bearing in mind the models that link them to each other and to theory. The present theoretical and observational understanding of solar flares is far from complete, so we conclude with a brief discussion of models, and a list of missing but important observations.Comment: This is an article for a monograph on the physics of solar flares, inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to appear in Space Science Reviews (2011

Splenectomy for splenomegaly and secondary hypersplenism

Splenomegaly and secondary hypersplenism may be associated with acute and chronic infections, autoimmune states, portal hypertension or splenic vein thrombosis, and a number of infiltrative and neoplastic conditions involving the spleen. Our experience and that of others with these various conditions demonstrates that the decision to perform splenectomy should be based on well-defined and often strictly limited indications. Except for idiopathic splenomegaly, the presence and severity of secondary hypersplenism or severely symptomatic splenomegaly should be well documented. In each case, the potential for palliation and known mean duration of expected response must be weighed against the increased morbidity and mortality of splenectomy (as compared to operation for “primary” hypersplenism) . La splénomégalie avec hypersplénisme secondaire relève de multiples causes: infection aigue ou chronique, états autoimmunologiques, hypertension portale, thrombose de la veine splénique, lésions tumorales spléniques. L'expérience de l'auteur qui rejoint celle de nombreux collègues lui permet d'affirmer que les indications de la splénectomie doivent être bien définies et sont strictement limitées. A l'exception de la splénomégalie idiopathique, l'existence et l'intensité de l'hypersplénisme, l'importance des symptomes provoqués par la splénomégalie doivent être aprréciées avec précision. Dans chaque cas le potentiel de la rémission de l'affection et la durée de la rémission doivent être pris en considération en fonction de l'éventuelle morbidité et de l'éventuelle mortalité de la splénectomie (par comparaison avec la splénectomie pour hypersplénisme primaire). Eplenomegalia e hiperesplenismo secundario pueden estar asociados con infecciones agudas y crónicas, estados autoinmunes (síndrome de Felty, lupus eritematoso sistémico), “esplenomegalia congestiva” por hipertensión portal o trombosis de la vena esplénica y con una variedad de entidades de tipo infiltrativo y neoplásico que afectan al bazo (sarcoidosis, enfermedad de Gaucher, varios desórdenes mieloproliferativos y linfomas). Nuestra experiencia, y aquella de otros autores, con tales condiciones demuestra que la decisión de realizar esplenectomía debe estar fundamentada en indicaciones bien definidas y estrictamente limitadas. Excepto en casos de esplenomegalia idiopática, la presencia y severidad del hiperesplenismo secundario o de esplenomegalia severamente sintomática debe ser bien documentada. En cada caso debe determinarse el potencial de paliación y la duración de la respuesta que se espera obtener frente a la incrementada morbilidad y mortalidad de la esplenectomía (en comparación con la operación que se realiza por hiperesplenismo “primario”).Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41318/1/268_2005_Article_BF01655279.pd

The MeerKAT Galaxy Cluster Legacy Survey: I. Survey overview and highlights

Please abstract in the article.The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), the National Research Foundation (NRF), the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, US National Science Foundation, the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the DSI/NRF, the SARAO HCD programme, the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Innovation.http://www.aanda.orghj2022Physic