A review of the distribution of particulate trace elements in urban terrestrial environments and its application to considerations of risk

We review the evolution, state of the art and future lines of research on the sources, transport pathways, and sinks of particulate trace elements in urban terrestrial environments to include the atmosphere, soils, and street and indoor dusts. Such studies reveal reductions in the emissions of some elements of historical concern such as Pb, with interest consequently focusing on other toxic trace elements such as As, Cd, Hg, Zn, and Cu. While establishment of levels of these elements is important in assessing the potential impacts of human society on the urban environment, it is also necessary to apply this knowledge in conjunction with information on the toxicity of those trace elements and the degree of exposure of human receptors to an assessment of whether such contamination represents a real risk to the city’s inhabitants and therefore how this risk can be addressed

Effect of sitagliptin on cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Data are lacking on the long-term effect on cardiovascular events of adding sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind study, we assigned 14,671 patients to add either sitagliptin or placebo to their existing therapy. Open-label use of antihyperglycemic therapy was encouraged as required, aimed at reaching individually appropriate glycemic targets in all patients. To determine whether sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo, we used a relative risk of 1.3 as the marginal upper boundary. The primary cardiovascular outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for unstable angina. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 3.0 years, there was a small difference in glycated hemoglobin levels (least-squares mean difference for sitagliptin vs. placebo, -0.29 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.32 to -0.27). Overall, the primary outcome occurred in 839 patients in the sitagliptin group (11.4%; 4.06 per 100 person-years) and 851 patients in the placebo group (11.6%; 4.17 per 100 person-years). Sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome (hazard ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.09; P<0.001). Rates of hospitalization for heart failure did not differ between the two groups (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.20; P = 0.98). There were no significant between-group differences in rates of acute pancreatitis (P = 0.07) or pancreatic cancer (P = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, adding sitagliptin to usual care did not appear to increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, hospitalization for heart failure, or other adverse events

Measurement of jet-substructure observables in top quark, W boson and light jet production in proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A measurement of jet substructure observables is presented using data collected in 2016 by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC with proton-proton collisions at s√ = 13 TeV. Large-radius jets groomed with the trimming and soft-drop algorithms are studied. Dedicated event selections are used to study jets produced by light quarks or gluons, and hadronically decaying top quarks and W bosons. The observables measured are sensitive to substructure, and therefore are typically used for tagging large-radius jets from boosted massive particles. These include the energy correlation functions and the N-subjettiness variables. The number of subjets and the Les Houches angularity are also considered. The distributions of the substructure variables, corrected for detector effects, are compared to the predictions of various Monte Carlo event generators. They are also compared between the large-radius jets originating from light quarks or gluons, and hadronically decaying top quarks and W bosons

Effects of Inhaled Fluticasone on Upper Airway during Sleep and Wakefulness in Asthma: A Pilot Study

Study Objective:Obstructive sleep apnea is prevalent among people with asthma, but underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Inhaled corticosteroids may contribute. We tested the effects of orally inhaled fluticasone propionate (FP) on upper airway (UAW) during sleep and wakefulness.Study design:16-week single-arm study.Participants:18 (14 females, mean [ ± SD] age 26 ± 6 years) corticosteroid-naïve subjects with mild asthma (FEV1 89 ± 8% predicted).Interventions:High dose (1,760 mcg/day) inhaled FP.Measurements:(1) UAW collapsibility (passive critical closing pressure [Pcrit]); (2) tongue strength (maximum isometric pressure—Pmax, in KPa) and endurance—time (in seconds) able to maintain 50% Pmax across 3 trials (Ttot)—at anterior and posterior locations; (3) fat fraction and volume around UAW, measured by magnetic resonance imaging in three subjects.Results:Pcrit overall improved (became more negative) (mean ± SE) (-8.2 ± 1.1 vs. -12.2 ± 2.2 cm H2O, p = 0.04); the response was dependent upon baseline characteristics, with older, male gender, and worse asthma control predicting Pcrit deterioration (less negative). Overall, Pmax increased (anterior p = 0.02; posterior p = 0.002), but Ttot generally subsided (anterior p = 0.0007; posterior p = 0.06), unrelated to Pcrit response. In subjects studied with MRI, fat fraction and volume increased by 20.6% and 15.4%, respectively, without Pcrit changes, while asthma control appeared improved.Conclusions:In this study of young, predominantly female, otherwise healthy subjects with well-controlled asthma and stiff upper airways, 16-week high dose FP treatment elicited Pcrit changes which may be dependent upon baseline characteristics, and determined by synchronous and reciprocally counteracting local and lower airway effects. The long-term implications of these changes on sleep disordered breathing severity remain to be determined.Citation:Teodorescu M; Xie A; A. Sorkness CA; Robbins J; Reeder S; Gong Y; Fedie JE; Sexton A; Miller B; Huard T; Hind J; Bioty N; Peterson E; Kunselman SJ; Chinchilli VM; Soler X; Ramsdell J; Loredo J; Israel E; Eckert DJ; Malhotra A. Effects of inhaled fluticasone on upper airway during sleep and wakefulness in asthma: a pilot study. J Clin Sleep Med 2014;10(2):183-19

State of the California current 2015-16: Comparisons with the 1997-98 el niÑo

Warm conditions in the North Pacific in 2014-15 were a result of the continuation of the North Pacific marine heat wave, a large area of exceptionally high SST anomalies that originated in the Gulf of Alaska in late 2013. The North Pacific heat wave interacted with an El Niño developing in the equatorial Pacific in 2015. Weekly periods of exceptionally high temperature anomalies (&gt;2˚C) occurred until the start of the El Niño (winter of 2015), when SSTs were still high but not as high as those due to the marine heat wave. During the 2015-16 El Niño, the depth of the 26.0 kg m-3 isopycnal (d26.0) was considerably shallower than during the 1982- 83 and 1997-98 events. The area affected by the marine heat wave and the 2015-16 El Niño in the mixed layer was comparable to the 1997-98 El Niño, but lasted longer. Water column stratification in the upper 100 m during 2015-16 was as strong as the most extreme values during the 1997-98 El Niño. This stratification was primarily driven by the warming of the upper 100 m. Despite notable perturbations, the effects of the 2015- 16 El Niño on hydrographic properties in the CalCOFI domain were not as strong as those observed during the 1997-98 El Niño. Warm ocean conditions, stratification, nutrient suppression, and silicic acid stress likely favored initiation of a toxic Pseudo-nitzschia bloom in fall 2014. Very low zooplankton displacement volumes were associated with anomalously warm and saline surface waters off Baja California. In contrast, during the 1997-98 El Niño, zooplankton volume was near average. Off California, pelagic red crab (Pleuroncodes planipes) adults were abundant in the water column and frequently washed up on beaches of southern California from January 2015 into 2016, and central California by September 2015. Glider measurements of integrated transport up to June 2015 did not detect anomalous northward advection. As expected, HF radar indicated northward surface currents along the central California coast in fall and winter 2015-16. Northward advection appeared to be much stronger during the 1997-98 El Niño. Throughout 2015-16, the zooplankton community on the Oregon shelf was dominated by lipid-poor tropical and sub-tropical copepods and gelatinous zooplankton, indicating poor feeding conditions for small fishes that are prey for juvenile salmon. The presence of rarely encountered species increased copepod species richness during 2015-16 to levels higher than the 1998 El Niño. We infer that the unusual copepod vagrants of 2015-16 originated from an offshore and southwesterly source; an important difference from the southerly origin of vagrants during the 1997-98 El Niño. The very warm conditions caused sardine spawning to shift from central California to Oregon. Mesopelagic fish assemblage off southern California exhibited higher abundances of species with southern affinities, and lower abundances of species with northern affinities. Forage fish (Pacific herring, northern anchovy, and Pacific sardine) were much less abundant in 2015-16 compared to previous years. In contrast, catches of salmon were close to average off northern California. Catches of young-ofthe- year rockfishes were high off central California, but low off both northern and southern California. Seabirds at Southeast Farallon Island in 2015 exhibited reduced breeding populations, reduced breeding success, lower chick growth rates, and lower fledging weights. Common murres were negatively affected in central and northern California, but seabird responses were species-specific. It is clear from the results presented here that the warm anomaly effects on the ecosystem were complicated, regionally specific, and that we do not fully understand them yet

Linear redshift distortions: A review

Abstract. Redshift maps of galaxies in the Universe are distorted by the peculiar velocities of galaxies along the line of sight. The amplitude of the distortions on large, linear scales yields a measurement of the linear redshift distortion parameter, which is β ≈ Ω0.6 0 /b in standard cosmology with cosmological density Ω0 and light-to-mass bias b. All measurements of β from linear redshift distortions published up to mid 1997 are reviewed. The average and standard deviation of the reported values is βoptical = 0.52 ± 0.26 for optically selected galaxies, and βIRAS = 0.77 ± 0.22 for IRAS selected galaxies. The implied relative bias is boptical/bIRAS ≈ 1.5. If optical galaxies are unbiased, then Ω0 = 0.33 +0.32 −0.22 are unbiased, then Ω0 = 0.63 +0.3