Complex Alpine Extrication: Case Report of Mountain and Speleological Rescue Cooperation

AbstractMountain sporting activities are an increasingly popular practice that exposes mountaineers to a high risk of adverse events. This report describes a unique case of recovery in an austere environment that involved explosives. In June 2012, a 52-year-old man ascended a cliff tower in the Eastern Alps, Italy. A landslide occurred, and a boulder crushed the climber against a large stone located farther down the cliff, causing compression of the lower limbs and the pelvis with consequent severe musculoskeletal trauma. The National Alpine and Cave Rescue Unit (NACRU) arrived and proceeded with stabilization of the injured climber, which took 6 hours and involved a difficult extrication supported by the Cave Rescue division of NACRU. Unfortunately, during transport to the trauma center of Borgo Trento, Verona, the patient exhibited signs of progressive traumatic shock because of crush syndrome, hypovolemia, and acidosis, which led to cardiac arrest and death. Based on an extensive literature review, this report was determined to be the only one of a mountain rescue using explosives for the extrication of a victim in the Northeast Italian Alps. This case describes how a rescue in austere environments can represent a high-risk situation, and it shows how improvisation and cooperation between rescue teams are crucial for a successful recovery

Broad-line region in NGC 4151 monitored by two decades of reverberation mapping campaigns. I. Evolution of structure and kinematics

We report the results of long-term reverberation mapping (RM) campaigns of the nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN) NGC 4151, spanning from 1994 to 2022, based on archived observations of the FAST Spectrograph Publicly Archived Programs and our new observations with the 2.3m telescope at the Wyoming Infrared Observatory. We reduce and calibrate all the spectra in a consistent way, and derive light curves of the broad H$\beta$ line and 5100\,{\AA} continuum. Continuum light curves are also constructed using public archival photometric data to increase sampling cadences. We subtract the host galaxy contamination using {\it HST} imaging to correct fluxes of the calibrated light curves. Utilizing the long-term archival photometric data, we complete the absolute flux-calibration of the AGN continuum. We find that the H$\beta$ time delays are correlated with the 5100\,{\AA} luminosities as $\tau_{\rm H\beta}\propto L_{5100}^{0.46\pm0.16}$. This is remarkably consistent with Bentz et al. (2013)'s global size-luminosity relationship of AGNs. Moreover, the data sets for five of the seasons allow us to obtain the velocity-resolved delays of the H$\beta$ line, showing diverse structures (outflows, inflows and disks). Combining our results with previous independent measurements, we find the measured dynamics of the H$\beta$ broad-line region (BLR) are possibly related to the long-term trend of the luminosity. There is also a possible additional $\sim$1.86 years time lag between the variation in BLR radius and luminosity. These results suggest that dynamical changes in the BLR may be driven by the effects of radiation pressure.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; comments welcome

Monitoring AGNs with Hβ\beta Asymmetry. IV. First Reverberation Mapping Results of 14 AGNs

We report first-time reverberation mapping results for 14 AGNs from the ongoing Monitoring AGNs with H$\beta$ Asymmetry campaign (MAHA). These results utilize optical spectra obtained with the Long Slit Spectrograph on the Wyoming Infrared 2.3m Telescope between 2017 November-2023 May. MAHA combines long-duration monitoring with high cadence. We report results from multiple observing seasons for 9 of the 14 objects. These results include H$\beta$ time lags, supermassive black hole masses, and velocity-resolved time lags. The velocity-resolved lags allow us to investigate the kinematics of the broad-line region.Comment: 35 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Supplemen

Reduced platelet hyperreactivity and platelet-monocyte aggregation in HIV-infected individuals receiving a raltegravir-based regimen

Item does not contain fulltextOBJECTIVE: Platelets are key cells in atherosclerosis and acute cardiovascular events. Platelet hyperreactivity and increased platelet-monocyte aggregation (PMA) are found in HIV-infected patients and may contribute to the excess cardiovascular risk. The integrase inhibitor raltegravir (RAL) has been associated with better residual viral suppression and reduction in inflammatory and coagulation biomarkers. The aim of our study was to investigate whether RAL-treated patients have reduced platelet reactivity and PMA. DESIGN AND METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study involving 80 virologically suppressed adult HIV1-infected patients on a RAL-based (n = 25), nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based (n = 30) or a protease inhibitor based (n = 25) regimen and 30 healthy controls. Platelet reactivity was determined by measuring platelet P-selectin expression and the binding of fibrinogen to platelets to stimulation with two concentrations of ADP. PMA was determined by measuring the expression of the platelet marker CD42b on CD14 positive cells. RESULTS: HIV-infected individuals had higher platelet reactivity and PMA than controls. RAL-treated individuals showed significantly lower P-selectin expression to stimulation with low (P = 0.026 vs. NNRTI and P = 0.005 vs. protease inhibitor group) and high-dose ADP (P = 0.009 vs. NNRTI and P = 0.003 vs. protease inhibitor group). A similar trend for was found for fibrinogen binding, although only the difference in P-selectin expression between RAL and protease inhibitor treated patients reached statistical significance (P = 0.038). PMA was also lower in the RAL group than in the NNRTI (P = 0.037) and protease inhibitor (P = 0.034) groups. CONCLUSION: Use of a RAL-based regimen was associated with a reduction in persistent HIV-induced platelet hyperreactivity and PMA compared with NNRTI and protease inhibitor based regimen

Multiwavelength monitoring and reverberation mapping of a changing look event in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 3516

We present the results of photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaigns of the changing look AGN NGC 3516 carried out in 2018 to 2020 covering the wavelength range from the X-ray to the optical. The facilities included the telescopes of the CMO SAI MSU, the 2.3-m WIRO telescope, and the XRT and UVOT of Swift. We found that NGC 3516 brightened to a high state and could be classified as Sy1.5 during the late spring of 2020. We have measured time delays in the responses of the Balmer and He ii λ4686 lines to continuum variations. In the case of the best-characterized broad H β line, the delay to continuum variability is about 17 d in the blue wing and is clearly shorter, 9 d, in the red, which is suggestive of inflow. As the broad lines strengthened, the blue side came to dominate the Balmer lines, resulting in very asymmetric profiles with blueshifted peaks during this high state. During the outburst the X-ray flux reached its maximum on 2020 April 1 and it was the highest value ever observed for NGC 3516 by the Swift observatory. The X-ray hard photon index became softer, ∼1.8 in the maximum on 2020 April 21 compared to the mean ∼0.7 during earlier epochs before 2020. We have found that the UV and optical variations correlated well (with a small time delay of 1-2 d) with the X-ray until the beginning of 2020 April, but later, until the end of 2020 June, these variations were not correlated. We suggest that this fact may be a consequence of partial obscuration by Compton-thick clouds crossing the line of sight