63 research outputs found

    Variable X-ray Absorption toward Gravitationally-Lensed Blazar PKS1830-211

    Full text link
    We present X-ray spectral analysis of five Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of the gravitationally-lensed blazar PKS1830-211 from 2000 to 2004. We show that the X-ray absorption toward PKS1830-211 is variable, and the variable absorption is most likely to be intrinsic with amplitudes of about 2-30e22 cm^-2 depending on whether or not the absorber is partially covering the X-ray source. Our results confirm the variable absorption observed previously, although interpreted differently, in a sequence of ASCA observations. This large variation in the absorption column density can be interpreted as outflows from the central engine in the polar direction, consistent with recent numerical models of inflow/outflows in AGNs. In addition, it could possibly be caused by the interaction between the blazar jet and its environment, or the variation from the geometric configuration of the jet. While the spectra can also be fitted with a variable absorption at the lens redshift, we show that this model is unlikely. We also rule out the simple microlensing interpretation of variability which was previously suggested.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, Accepted to A

    Population-based incidence of intussusception and a case-control study to examine the association of intussusception with natural rotavirus infection among Indian children

    Get PDF
    Background: A rotavirus vaccine previously licensed in the United States was withdrawn because it caused intussusception. Data on background intussusception rates in developing countries are required to plan pre- and postlicensure safety studies for new rotavirus vaccines. Also, it is unclear whether natural rotavirus infection is associated with intussusception. Methods: Passive surveillance for intussusception in a large, well-defined, poor, urban population in Delhi, India, was conducted in 2 phases. Intussusception was confirmed by ultrasonography or surgery. Fecal samples obtained from patients with intussusception at study hospitals (irrespective of their residence in study areas) and healthy control subjects were tested for rotavirus with use of enzyme immunoassay. If available, resected intestinal tissue samples were tested for rotavirus with use of immunohistochemistical analysis and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: The incidence of intussusception requiring hospitalization was 17.7 cases per 100,000 infant-years of follow-up (95% confidence interval, 5.9-41.4 cases per 100,000 infant-years). Detection rates of rotavirus in stool samples did not differ significantly between case patients and control subjects (4 of 42 case patients vs 6 of 92 control subjects), and no evidence of rotavirus was detected in any of the 22 patients with intussusception for whom intestinal tissue samples were available. Conclusions: The incidence of intussusception among Indian infants appears to be lower than that reported in other middle- and high-income countries. Natural rotavirus infection does not appear to be a major cause of intussusception in Indian infants

    European Society of Organ Transplantation (ESOT) Consensus Statement on Prehabilitation for Solid Organ Transplantation Candidates

    Get PDF
    Data Availability Statement: The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material (https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/ti.2023.11564/full#SM1), further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.Supplementary Material: The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/ti.2023.11564/full#supplementary-materialCopyright © 2023 The Authors. There is increasingly growing evidence and awareness that prehabilitation in waitlisted solid organ transplant candidates may benefit clinical transplant outcomes and improve the patient’s overall health and quality of life. Lifestyle changes, consisting of physical training, dietary management, and psychosocial interventions, aim to optimize the patient’s physical and mental health before undergoing surgery, so as to enhance their ability to overcome procedure-associated stress, reduce complications, and accelerate post-operative recovery. Clinical data are promising but few, and evidence-based recommendations are scarce. To address the need for clinical guidelines, The European Society of Organ Transplantation (ESOT) convened a dedicated Working Group “Prehabilitation in Solid Organ Transplant Candidates,” comprising experts in physical exercise, nutrition and psychosocial interventions, to review the literature on prehabilitation in this population, and develop recommendations. These were discussed and voted upon during the Consensus Conference in Prague, 13–15 November 2022. A high degree of consensus existed amongst all stakeholders including transplant recipients and their representatives. Ten recommendations were formulated that are a balanced representation of current published evidence and real-world practice. The findings and recommendations of the Working Group on Prehabilitation for solid organ transplant candidates are presented in this article.All costs related to taskforce and workgroup meetings were covered by ESOT, without external funding

    Determinants of Depressive Symptoms at 1 Year Following ICU Discharge in Survivors of $ 7 Days of Mechanical Ventilation : Results From the RECOVER Program, a Secondary Analysis of a Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study

    Get PDF
    Abstract : Background: Moderate to severe depressive symptoms occur in up to one-third of patients at 1 year following ICU discharge, negatively affecting patient outcomes. This study evaluated patient and caregiver factors associated with the development of these symptoms. Methods: This study used the Rehabilitation and Recovery in Patients after Critical Illness and Their Family Caregivers (RECOVER) Program (Phase 1) cohort of 391 patients from 10 medical/surgical university-affiliated ICUs across Canada. We determined the association between patient depressive symptoms (captured by using the Beck Depression Inventory II [BDI-II]), patient characteristics (age, sex, socioeconomic status, Charlson score, and ICU length of stay [LOS]), functional independence measure (FIM) motor subscale score, and caregiver characteristics (Caregiver Assistance Scale and Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale) by using linear mixed models at time points 3, 6, and 12 months. Results: BDI-II data were available for 246 patients. Median age at ICU admission was 56 years (interquartile range, 45-65 years), 143 (58%) were male, and median ICU LOS was 19 days (interquartile range, 13-32 days). During the 12-month follow-up, 67 of 246 (27.2%) patients had a BDI-II score ≥ 20, indicating moderate to severe depressive symptoms. Mixed models showed worse depressive symptoms in patients with lower FIM motor subscale scores (1.1 BDI-II points per 10 FIM points), lower income status (by 3.7 BDI-II points; P = .007), and incomplete secondary education (by 3.8 BDI-II points; P = .009); a curvilinear relation with age (P = .001) was also reported, with highest BDI-II at ages 45 to 50 years. No associations were found between patient BDI-II and comorbidities (P = .92), sex (P = .25), ICU LOS (P = .51), or caregiver variables (Caregiver Assistance Scale [P = .28] and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [P = .74]). Conclusions: Increased functional dependence, lower income, and lower education are associated with increased severity of post-ICU depressive symptoms, whereas age has a curvilinear relation with symptom severity. Knowledge of risk factors may inform surveillance and targeted mental health follow-up. Early mobilization and rehabilitation aiming to improve function may serve to modify mood disorders

    Performance of mobile IPv6 with different route optimization scheme

    Get PDF
    Mobile Internet Protocol version 4, in which the main problem is triangle routing. Mobile node deliver packets to a corresponding node directly but when corresponding node sends packet to the mobile node packet comes to foreign agent via home agent then it comes to mobile node. This asymmetry is called triangle routing. It leads to many problems, like load on the network and delay in delivering packets. The next generation IPv6 is designed to overcome this kind of problem (triangle routing). MIPv6 support host moves from one access point to another access point. To solve the triangle routing problem different route optimization schemes are used which exclude the inefficient routing paths by creating the shortest routing path. These are Liebsch’s Route optimization scheme, Light Weight Route optimization scheme & enhanced light weight route optimization scheme. In this paper I have consider only Light Weight Route optimization scheme & enhanced light weight route optimization scheme. I have taken Throughput and Packet delivery fraction, end to end delay & round trip time .Performance metrics to compare these two schemes by using NS-2 simulations. Throughput is the rate of communications per unit time. Packet delivery fraction (PDF) is the ratio of the data packets delivered to the destinations to those generated by the CBR sources. End to end delay includes all possible delays caused by buffering, retransmission delay & propagation & transfer times of data packets. Round-trip time is the time required for a signal pulse or packet to travel from a specific source to a specific destination and back again. By using these parameters I have found that enhanced light weight route optimization scheme performance is better than Light Weight Route optimization scheme

    Internal marketing in a higher education context - towards an enriched framework

    No full text
    Purpose: The concept of internal marketing (IM) has gained the attention of researchers over the past three decades. Though a lot of research has been carried out on this topic, it remains a concept yet to be completely understood and captured, with ambiguity in terms of its definition and scope. The purpose of this paper is to utilise the higher education (HE) context in an emerging country, United Arab Emirates (UAE), to argue that the term IM needs more unbundling and hence the authors propose an enriched framework with a renewed and relevant identity, which the authors term as corporate fusion (CF). Design/methodology/approach: The authors do so with a renewed framework and philosophy that tries to capture new constructs and dimensions of IM in line with the emerging corporate milieu and has been applied to the HE sector of the UAE in this paper. Findings: The proposed new conceptual framework identifies a CF philosophy building on the existing literature and captures the essence of IM orientation, albeit with its new constructs, dimensions and justifications. Furthermore, the authors argue that this new model is relevant to the contemporary environmental trends surrounding present day HE organisations, more so ever in emerging markets such as the UAE, given their growth needs in a competitive global marketplace. Originality/value: In this paper, the authors take a close introspection at the contemporary role of IM in the HE landscape available in the UAE using a renewed framework titled Corporate Fusion
    corecore