Acromegaly presenting with hemiplegia

A case of acromegaly presenting with hemiplegia is described. The radiological features, including cerebral angiography, are discussed. Acromegaly is uncommon in the Black population of South Africa. Experience at Baragwanath Hospital (2400 beds) confirms the rarity of the disease, and reference to the South African Medical Journal over the past 25 years has failed to reveal a single case. In all published series no case of 'stroke' in acromegaly is specifically described. This is unusual because of the many underlying aetiological factors of potential stroke present in acromegaly.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 684 (1974)

Acromegaly Presenting with Hemiplegia

A case of acromegaly presenting with hemiplegia is described. The radiological features, including cerebral angiography, are discussed. Acromegaly is uncommon in the Black population of South Africa. Experience at Baragwanath Hospital (2400 beds) confirms the rarity of the disease, and reference to the South African Medical Journal over the past 25 years has failed to reveal a single case. In all published series no case of 'stroke' in acromegaly is specifically described. This is unusual because of the many underlying aetiological factors of potential stroke present in acromegaly.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 684 (1974)

Breakdown pressure and fracture surface morphology of hydraulic fracturing in shale with H2O, CO2 and N2

Slick-water fracturing is the most routine form of well stimulation in shales; however N2, LPG and CO2 have all been used as “exotic” stimulants in various hydrocarbon reservoirs. We explore the use of these gases as stimulants on Green River shale to compare the form and behavior of fractures in shale driven by different gas compositions and states and indexed by breakdown pressure and the resulting morphology of the fracture networks. Fracturing is completed on cylindrical samples containing a single blind axial borehole under simple triaxial conditions with confining pressure ranging from 10 to 25 MPa and axial stress ranging from 0 to 35 MPa (σ1 > σ2 = σ3). Results show that: (1) under the same stress conditions, CO2 returns the highest breakdown pressure, followed by N2, and with H2O exhibiting the lowest breakdown pressure; (2) CO2 fracturing, compared to other fracturing fluids, creates nominally the most complex fracturing patterns as well as the roughest fracture surface and with the greatest apparent local damage followed by H2O and then N2; (3) under conditions of constant injection rate, the CO2 pressure build-up record exhibits condensation between ~5 and 7 MPa and transits from gas to liquid through a mixed-phase region rather than directly to liquid as for H2O and N2 which do not; (4) there is a positive correlation between minimum principal stress and breakdown pressure for failure both by transverse fracturing (σ3axial) and by longitudinal fracturing (σ3radial) for each fracturing fluid with CO2 having the highest correlation coefficient/slope and lowest for H2O. We explain these results in terms of a mechanistic understanding of breakdown, and through correlations with the specific properties of the stimulating fluids

Frictional and lithological controls on shallow slow slip at the Northern Hikurangi Margin

Slow slip events (SSEs) have been identified at subduction zones globally as an important link in the continuum between elastodynamic ruptures and stable creep. The northern Hikurangi margin is home to shallow SSEs which propagate to within 2 km of the seafloor and possibly to the trench, providing insights into the physical conditions conducive to SSE behavior. We report on a suite of friction experiments performed on protolith material entering the SSE source region at the Hikurangi margin, collected during the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 375. We performed velocity stepping and slide-hold-slide experiments over a range of fault slip rates, from plate rate (5 cm/yr or 1.6 × 10−9 m/s) to ∼1 mm/s (10−3 m/s) and quantified the frictional velocity dependence and healing rates for a range of lithologies atdifferent stresses. The frictional velocity dependence (a-b) and critical slip distance DC increase with fault slip rate in our experiments. We observe atransition from velocity weakening to strengthening at slip rates of ∼0.3 µm/s. This velocity dependence of DC could be due to a combination of dilatant strengthening and a widening of the active shear zone at higher slip rates. We document low healing rates in the clay-rich volcaniclastic conglomerates, which lie above the incoming plate basement at least locally, and relatively higher healing rates in the chalk lithology. Finally, our experimental constraints on healing rates in different input lithologies extrapolated to timescales of 1–10 years are consistent with the geodetically inferred low stress drops and healing rates characteristic of the Hikurangi SSEs

First Kepler results on compact pulsators II: KIC 010139564, a new pulsating subdwarf B (V361 Hya) star with an additional low-frequency mode

We present the discovery of nonradial pulsations in a hot subdwarf B star based on 30.5 days of nearly continuous time-series photometry using the \emph{Kepler} spacecraft. KIC 010139564 is found to be a short-period pulsator of the V361 Hya (EC 14026) class with more than 10 independent pulsation modes whose periods range from 130 to 190 seconds. It also shows one periodicity at a period of 3165 seconds. If this periodicity is a high order g-mode, then this star may be the hottest member of the hybrid DW Lyn stars. In addition to the resolved pulsation frequencies, additional periodic variations in the light curve suggest that a significant number of additional pulsation frequencies may be present. The long duration of the run, the extremely high duty cycle, and the well-behaved noise properties allow us to explore the stability of the periodic variations, and to place strong constraints on how many of them are independent stellar oscillation modes. We find that most of the identified periodicities are indeed stable in phase and amplitude, suggesting a rotation period of 2-3 weeks for this star, but further observations are needed to confirm this suspicion.Comment: 10 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA

EMG/ENG services rendered by clinical neurophysiology technologists in solo practice

CITATION: Bill, P. L. A., et al. 1998. EMG/ENG services rendered by clinical neurophysiology technologists in solo practice. South African Medical Journal, 88(11):1360.The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.za[No abstract available]Publisher’s versio

The Unseen Population of F to K-type Companions to Hot Subdwarf Stars

We present a method to select hot subdwarf stars with A to M-type companions using photometric selection criteria. We cover a wide range in wavelength by combining GALEX ultraviolet data, optical photometry from the SDSS and the Carlsberg Meridian telescope, near-infrared data from 2MASS and UKIDSS. We construct two complimentary samples, one by matching GALEX, CMC and 2MASS, as well as a smaller, but deeper, sample using GALEX, SDSS and UKIDSS. In both cases, a large number of composite subdwarf plus main-sequence star candidates were found. We fit their spectral energy distributions with a composite model in order to estimate the subdwarf and companion star effective temperatures along with the distance to each system. The distribution of subdwarf effective temperature was found to primarily lie in the 20,000 - 30,000 K regime, but we also find cooler subdwarf candidates, making up ~5-10 per cent. The most prevalent companion spectral types were seen to be main-sequence stars between F0 and K0, while subdwarfs with M-type companions appear much rarer. This is clear observational confirmation that a very efficient first stable Roche-lobe overflow channel appears to produce a large number of subdwarfs with F to K-type companions. Our samples thus support the importance of binary evolution for subdwarf formation.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figures, 11 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Modeling the System Parameters of 2M1533+3759: A New Longer-Period Low-Mass Eclipsing sdB+dM Binary

We present new photometric and spectroscopic observations for 2M 1533+3759 (= NSVS 07826147). It has an orbital period of 0.16177042 day, significantly longer than the 2.3--3.0 hour periods of the other known eclipsing sdB+dM systems. Spectroscopic analysis of the hot primary yields Teff = 29230 +/- 125 K, log g = 5.58 +/- 0.03 and log N(He)/N(H) = -2.37 +/- 0.05. The sdB velocity amplitude is K1 = 71.1 +/- 1.0 km/s. The only detectable light contribution from the secondary is due to the surprisingly strong reflection effect. Light curve modeling produced several solutions corresponding to different values of the system mass ratio, q(M2/M1), but only one is consistent with a core helium burning star, q=0.301. The orbital inclination is 86.6 degree. The sdB primary mass is M1 = 0.376 +/- 0.055 Msun and its radius is R1 = 0.166 +/- 0.007 Rsun. 2M1533+3759 joins PG0911+456 (and possibly also HS2333+3927) in having an unusually low mass for an sdB star. SdB stars with masses significantly lower than the canonical value of 0.48 Msun, down to as low as 0.30 Msun, were theoretically predicted by Han et al. (2002, 2003), but observational evidence has only recently begun to confirm the existence of such stars. The existence of core helium burning stars with masses lower than 0.40--0.43 Msun implies that at least some sdB progenitors have initial main sequence masses of 1.8--2.0 Msun or more, i.e. they are at least main sequence A stars. The secondary is a main sequence M5 star.Comment: 47 pages, 7 figure

A Spectroscopic Analysis of Blue Stragglers, Horizontal Branch and Turn-Off Stars in Four Globular Clusters

We present a spectroscopic analysis of HST/STIS and FOS low- and intermediate-resolution spectroscopy of 55 stars (turn-off stars, horizontal branch stars and blue stragglers) in four globular clusters (47 Tucanae, M3, NGC6752, and NGC6397). Stars were analyzed with non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium model atmospheres, and values for their effective temperatures and gravities and some rotation rates were obtained. Using photometric fluxes, we also obtained radii, luminosities and spectroscopic masses.Comment: 71 pages, 28 figures. Electronic figures only in the published versio

Calmodulin-like proteins localized to the conoid regulate motility and cell invasion by Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii contains an expanded number of calmodulin (CaM)-like proteins whose functions are poorly understood. Using a combination of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing and a plant-like auxin-induced degron (AID) system, we examined the roles of three apically localized CaMs. CaM1 and CaM2 were individually dispensable, but loss of both resulted in a synthetic lethal phenotype. CaM3 was refractory to deletion, suggesting it is essential. Consistent with this prediction auxin-induced degradation of CaM3 blocked growth. Phenotypic analysis revealed that all three CaMs contribute to parasite motility, invasion, and egress from host cells, and that they act downstream of microneme and rhoptry secretion. Super-resolution microscopy localized all three CaMs to the conoid where they overlap with myosin H (MyoH), a motor protein that is required for invasion. Biotinylation using BirA fusions with the CaMs labeled a number of apical proteins including MyoH and its light chain MLC7, suggesting they may interact. Consistent with this hypothesis, disruption of MyoH led to degradation of CaM3, or redistribution of CaM1 and CaM2. Collectively, our findings suggest these CaMs may interact with MyoH to control motility and cell invasion