5,001 research outputs found
Magellan/M2FS and MMT/Hectochelle Spectroscopy of Dwarf Galaxies and Faint Star Clusters within the Galactic Halo
Bacteriological studies of blood, tissue fluid, lymph and lymph nodes in patients with acute dermatolymphangioadenitis (DLA) in course of ‘filarial’ lymphedema
Filarial lymphedema is complicated by frequent episodes of dermatolymphangioadenitis (DLA). Severe systemic
symptoms during attacks of DLA resemble those of septicemia. The question we asked was whether bacterial isolates
can be found in the peripheral blood of patients during the episodes of DLA. Out of 100 patients referred to us with
‘filarial’ lymphedema 14 displayed acute and five subacute symptoms of DLA. All were on admission blood
microfilariae negative but had a positive test in the past. Blood bacterial isolates were found in nine cases, four acute
(21%) and five subacute (26%). In 10 acute cases blood cultures were found negative. Six blood isolates belonged to
Bacilli, four to Cocci and one was Sarcina. To identify the sites of origin of bacterial dissemination, swabs taken from
the calf skin biopsy wounds and tissue fluid, lymph and lymph node specimens were cultured. Swabs from the calf
skin biopsy wound contained isolates in nine (47%) cases. They were Bacilli in nine, Cocci in three, Acinetobacter and
Erwinia in two cases. Tissue fluid was collected from 10 patients and contained Bacilli in four (40%) and
Staphylococci in three (30%). Lymph was drained in four patients and contained isolates in all samples (100%). They
were Staphylococcus epidermis, xylosus and aureus, Acinetobacter, Bacillus subtilis and Sarcina. Three lymph nodes
were biopsied and contained Staphylococcus chromogenes, xylosus, Enterococcus and Bacillus cereus. In six cases the
same phenotypically defined species of bacteria were found in blood and limb tissues or fluids. In the ‘control’ group of patients with lymphedema without acute or subacute changes all blood cultures were negative. Interestingly, swabs
from biopsy wound of these patients contained isolates in 80%, tissue fluid in 68%, lymph in 70% and lymph nodes
in 58% of cases. In healthy controls, tissue fluid did not contain bacteria, and lymph isolates were found only in 12%
of cases. This study demonstrates that patients with acute episodes of DLA reveal bacteriemia in a high percentage
of cases. Diversity of blood and tissue bacterial isolates in these patients points to a breakdown of the skin immune
barrier in lymphedema and subsequently indiscriminate bacterial colonization of deep tissues and spread to an blood
circulation. © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
An assessment of attitudes towards plastics and bioplastics in Europe
Over the last 50 years, conventional fossil-based plastics have become an integral part of our everyday lives. Apart from their low production costs, this is due to a number of their unique properties, including durability, strength, lightness, electrical and thermal insulation, resistance to chemicals and corrosion. The production of plastics has increased from 1.5 million metric tons in 1950 to 359 million metric tons in 2018. Of this total, 61.8 million metric tons were produced in Europe. There are various problems associated with plastic use and disposal that pose a serious threat to both the physical environment and human health. Since public behaviour plays a key role when it comes to the use of plastic, this paper reports on a study that focused on an assessment of attitudes towards plastics and bioplastics in Europe. The results showed that packaging is the most frequent modality of plastic used among participants. In addition, majority of participants are aware that plastic waste can affect environment and human health and therefore segregate and properly dispose plastics. Also, even though most respondents were aware of the environmental problems related to plastic use and showed a positive inclination towards using bioplastic materials, their limited availability and lack of relevant information about bioplastics pose a problem for wider use. Departing from the assumption that the public attitude is a determining factor in the consumption of plastics as a whole and bioplastics in particular, this paper also sheds some light on the current situation, identifying some trends and information gaps which should be addressed in order to encourage a more rational use of plastics in Europe
The Kinematics, Metallicities, and Orbits of Six Recently Discovered Galactic Star Clusters with Magellan/M2FS Spectroscopy
We present Magellan/M2FS spectroscopy of four recently discovered Milky Way
star clusters (Gran 3, Gran 4, Garro 01, LP 866) and two newly discovered open
clusters (Gaia 9, Gaia 10) at low Galactic latitudes. We measure line-of-sight
velocities and stellar parameters ([Fe/H], , , [Mg/Fe])
from high resolution spectroscopy centered on the Mg triplet and identify 20-80
members per star cluster. We determine the kinematics and chemical properties
of each cluster and measure the systemic proper motion and orbital properties
by utilizing Gaia astrometry. We find Gran 3 to be an old, metal-poor (mean
metallicity of [Fe/H]=-1.84) globular cluster located in the Galactic bulge on
a retrograde orbit. Gran 4 is an old, metal-poor ([Fe/H]}=-1.84) globular
cluster with a halo-like orbit that happens to be passing through the Galactic
plane. The orbital properties of Gran 4 are consistent with the proposed
LMS-1/Wukong and/or Helmi streams merger events. Garro 01 is an old, metal-rich
([Fe/H]=-0.30) globular cluster on a near circular orbit in the outer disk.
Gaia 9 and Gaia 10 are among the most distant known open clusters at
and most metal-poor with [Fe/H]~-0.50,-0.46 for Gaia
9 and Gaia 10, respectively. LP 866 is a nearby, metal-rich open cluster
([Fe/H]). The discovery and confirmation of multiple star clusters in
the Galactic plane shows the power of {\it Gaia} astrometry and the star
cluster census remains incomplete.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, submitted to MNRAS, associated data products
available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.780912
The Importance of Correlations and Fluctuations on the Initial Source Eccentricity in High-Energy Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions
In this paper, we investigate various ways of defining the initial source
eccentricity using the Monte Carlo Glauber (MCG) approach. In particular, we
examine the participant eccentricity, which quantifies the eccentricity of the
initial source shape by the major axes of the ellipse formed by the interaction
points of the participating nucleons. We show that reasonable variation of the
density parameters in the Glauber calculation, as well as variations in how
matter production is modeled, do not significantly modify the already
established behavior of the participant eccentricity as a function of collision
centrality. Focusing on event-by-event fluctuations and correlations of the
distributions of participating nucleons we demonstrate that, depending on the
achieved event-plane resolution, fluctuations in the elliptic flow magnitude
lead to most measurements being sensitive to the root-mean-square, rather
than the mean of the distribution. Neglecting correlations among
participants, we derive analytical expressions for the participant eccentricity
cumulants as a function of the number of participating nucleons,
\Npart,keeping non-negligible contributions up to \ordof{1/\Npart^3}. We
find that the derived expressions yield the same results as obtained from
mixed-event MCG calculations which remove the correlations stemming from the
nuclear collision process. Most importantly, we conclude from the comparison
with MCG calculations that the fourth order participant eccentricity cumulant
does not approach the spatial anisotropy obtained assuming a smooth nuclear
matter distribution. In particular, for the Cu+Cu system, these quantities
deviate from each other by almost a factor of two over a wide range in
centrality.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, submitted to PR
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