4,094 research outputs found
Endothelium-derived microparticles from chronically thromboembolic pulmonary hypertensive patients facilitate endothelial angiogenesis.
11 p.-4 fig.-1 tab.Background: Increased circulating levels of endoglin+ endothelial microparticles (EMPs) have been identified in several cardiovascular disorders, related to severity. Endoglin is an auxilary receptor for transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) important in the regulation of vascular structure.Results: We quantified the number of microparticles in plasma of six patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and age- and sex-matched pulmonary embolic (PE) and healthy controls and investigated the role of microparticle endoglin in the regulation of pulmonary endothelial function in vitro. Results show significantly increased levels of endoglin+ EMPs in CTEPH plasma, compared to healthy and disease controls. Co-culture of human pulmonary endothelial cells with CTEPH microparticles increased intracellular levels of endoglin and enhanced
TGF-β-induced angiogenesis and Smad1,5,8 phosphorylation in cells, without affecting BMPRII expression. In an in vitro model, we generated endothelium-derived MPs with enforced membrane localization of endoglin. Co-culture of these MPs with endothelial cells increased cellular endoglin content, improved cell survival and stimulated
angiogenesis in a manner similar to the effects induced by overexpressed protein.Conclusions: Increased generation of endoglin+ EMPs in CTEPH is likely to represent a protective mechanism supporting endothelial cell survival and angiogenesis, set to counteract the effects of vascular occlusion and endothelial damage.This research was supported by a project grant (PG 11/13/28765) from the British Heart Foundation and by grants from Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain (SAF2013-43421-R to CB)Peer reviewe
Experimental investigation of the fundamental modes of a collisionless plasma Final report, 10 Mar. 1964 - 31 Oct. 1967
Propagation of electron cyclotron waves and effects of low frequency noise in collisionless plasm
Modelling Annual Scintillation Velocity Variations of FRB 20201124A
Compact radio sources exhibit scintillation, an interference pattern arising
from propagation through inhomogeneous plasma, where scintillation patterns
encode the relative distances and velocities of the source, scattering
material, and Earth. In Main et al. 2022, we showed that the scintillation
velocity of the repeating fast radio burst FRB20201124A can be measured by
correlating pairs of burst spectra, and suggested that the scattering was
nearby the Earth at kpc from the low values of the scintillation
velocity and scattering timescale. In this work, we have measured the
scintillation velocity at 10 epochs spanning a year, observing an annual
variation which strongly implies the screen is within the Milky Way. Modelling
the annual variation with a 1D anisotropic or 2D isotropic screen results in a
screen distance pc or pc from
Earth respectively, possibly associated with the Local Bubble or the edge of
the Orion-Eridanus Superbubble. Continued monitoring, and using measurements
from other telescopes particularly at times of low effective velocity will help
probe changes in screen properties, and distinguish between screen models.
Where scintillation of an FRB originates in its host galaxy or local
environment, these techniques could be used to detect orbital motion, and probe
the FRB's local ionized environment.Comment: 5 pages, 5 Figures, submitted to MNRAS Letter
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Impact of WRF Physics and Grid Resolution on Low-level Wind Prediction: Towards the Assessment of Climate Change Impact on Future Wind Power
The Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model is used in short-range simulations to explore the sensitivity of model physics and horizontal grid resolution. We choose five events with the clear-sky conditions to study the impact of different planetary boundary layer (PBL), surface and soil-layer physics on low-level wind forecast for two wind farms; one in California (CA) and the other in Texas (TX). Short-range simulations are validated with field measurements. Results indicate that the forecast error of the CA case decreases with increasing grid resolution due to the improved representation of valley winds. Besides, the model physics configuration has a significant impact on the forecast error at this location. In contrast, the forecast error of the TX case exhibits little dependence on grid resolution and is relatively independent of physics configuration. Therefore, the occurrence frequency of lowest root mean square errors (RMSEs) at this location is used to determine an optimal model configuration for subsequent decade-scale regional climate model (RCM) simulations. In this study, we perform two sets of 20-year RCM simulations using the data from the NCAR Global Climate Model (GCM) simulations; one set models the present climate and the other simulates the future climate. These RCM simulations will be used to assess the impact of climate change on future wind energy
Geriatric Hip Fracture Quality Initiative
Introduction:
Multiple studies demonstrate increased morbidity, mortality, and loss of independence after hip fractures in geriatric patients. The 1-year mortality rate after a hip fracture has been estimated at anywhere from 14% to 58%. Hip fractures are one of the most common injuries evaluated by the UNM Orthopedic department. Geriatric hip fracture protocols have shown improved outcomes at many other centers with regard to improved functionality and decreased morbidity. The goal of this initiative is to improve outcomes with regard to length of hospital stay, functionality after surgery, and as a result, decreased morbidity and mortality.
Materials/methods:
All deaths in the orthopedic department were reviewed and analyzed from June 2009 to July 2019. Deaths were identified from morbidity and mortality submissions and NSQIP data. The geriatric hip fracture protocol was developed and implemented in Fall 2019, with non-critical care patients being primarily admitted to orthopedics, with hospitalist co-management. Specific post-operative and pain order sets were developed for efficiency and improved standard of care.
Results:
Early results of the newly developed geriatric hip fracture protocol demonstrate decreased length of stay in the hospital and earlier time to surgical intervention. It is too early to determine if morbidity and mortality has seen any decrease, however this can be anticipated with earlier time to surgery and decreased time in the hospital.
Conclusions:
We identified a need and successfully developed an initiative to improve care for geriatric patients with hip fractures. Implementation of this protocol decreased length of hospital stay as well as time to surgery. The analysis of the effect of this protocol on overall morbidity and mortality is ongoing
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A Comparison of Neutron-Based Non-Destructive Assessment Methods for Chemical Warfare Materiel and High Explosives
Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) systems employ neutrons as a probe to interrogate items, e.g. chemical warfare materiel-filled munitions. The choice of a neutron source in field-portable systems is determined by its ability to excite nuclei of interest, operational concerns such as radiological safety and ease-of-use, and cost. Idaho National Laboratory’s PINS Chemical Assay System has traditionally used a Cf-252 isotopic neutron source, but recently a Deuterium-Tritium (DT) Electronic Neutron Generator (ENG) has been tested as an alternate neutron source. This paper presents the results of using both of these neutron sources to interrogate chemical warfare materiel (CWM) and high explosive (HE) filled munitions
The repeating Fast Radio Burst FRB 121102: Multi-wavelength observations and additional bursts
We report on radio and X-ray observations of the only known repeating Fast
Radio Burst (FRB) source, FRB 121102. We have detected six additional radio
bursts from this source: five with the Green Bank Telescope at 2 GHz, and one
at 1.4 GHz at the Arecibo Observatory for a total of 17 bursts from this
source. All have dispersion measures consistent with a single value (
pc cm) that is three times the predicted maximum Galactic value. The
2-GHz bursts have highly variable spectra like those at 1.4 GHz, indicating
that the frequency structure seen across the individual 1.4 and 2-GHz
bandpasses is part of a wideband process. X-ray observations of the FRB 121102
field with the Swift and Chandra observatories show at least one possible
counterpart; however, the probability of chance superposition is high. A radio
imaging observation of the field with the Jansky Very Large Array at 1.6 GHz
yields a 5 upper limit of 0.3 mJy on any point-source continuum
emission. This upper limit, combined with archival WISE 22-m and IPHAS
H surveys, rules out the presence of an intervening Galactic HII
region. We update our estimate of the FRB detection rate in the PALFA survey to
be 1.1 FRBs sky day (95% confidence)
for peak flux density at 1.4 GHz above 300 mJy. We find that the intrinsic
widths of the 12 FRB 121102 bursts from Arecibo are, on average, significantly
longer than the intrinsic widths of the 13 single-component FRBs detected with
the Parkes telescope.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Skeletal Morphology of Opius dissitus and Biosteres carbonarius (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), with a Discussion of Terminology
The Braconidae, a family of parasitic wasps, constitute a major taxonomic challenge with an estimated diversity of 40,000 to 120,000 species worldwide, only 18,000 of which have been described to date. The skeletal morphology of braconids is still not adequately understood and the terminology is partly idiosyncratic, despite the fact that anatomical features form the basis for most taxonomic work on the group. To help address this problem, we describe the external skeletal morphology of Opius dissitus Muesebeck 1963 and Biosteres carbonarius Nees 1834, two diverse representatives of one of the least known and most diverse braconid subfamilies, the Opiinae. We review the terminology used to describe skeletal features in the Ichneumonoidea in general and the Opiinae in particular, and identify a list of recommend terms, which are linked to the online Hymenoptera Anatomy Ontology. The morphology of the studied species is illustrated with SEM-micrographs, photos and line drawings. Based on the examined species, we discuss intraspecific and interspecific morphological variation in the Opiinae and point out character complexes that merit further study
Fast Radio Burst Discovered in the Arecibo Pulsar ALFA Survey
Recent work has exploited pulsar survey data to identify temporally isolated,
millisecond-duration radio bursts with large dispersion measures (DMs). These
bursts have been interpreted as arising from a population of extragalactic
sources, in which case they would provide unprecedented opportunities for
probing the intergalactic medium; they may also be linked to new source
classes. Until now, however, all so-called fast radio bursts (FRBs) have been
detected with the Parkes radio telescope and its 13-beam receiver, casting some
concern about the astrophysical nature of these signals. Here we present FRB
121102, the first FRB discovery from a geographic location other than Parkes.
FRB 121102 was found in the Galactic anti-center region in the 1.4-GHz Pulsar
ALFA survey with the Arecibo Observatory with a DM = 557.4 3 pc
cm, pulse width of ms, and no evidence of interstellar
scattering. The observed delay of the signal arrival time with frequency agrees
precisely with the expectation of dispersion through an ionized medium. Despite
its low Galactic latitude (), the burst has three times the
maximum Galactic DM expected along this particular line-of-sight, suggesting an
extragalactic origin. A peculiar aspect of the signal is an inverted spectrum;
we interpret this as a consequence of being detected in a sidelobe of the ALFA
receiver. FRB 121102's brightness, duration, and the inferred event rate are
all consistent with the properties of the previously detected Parkes bursts.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Ap
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