Effects of Naltrexone on Pain Sensitivity and Mood in Fibromyalgia: No Evidence for Endogenous Opioid Pathophysiology

The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying fibromyalgia are still unknown, although some evidence points to endogenous opioid dysfunction. We examined how endogenous opioid antagonism affects pain and mood for women with and without fibromyalgia. Ten women with fibromyalgia and ten age- and gender-matched, healthy controls each attended two laboratory sessions. Each participant received naltrexone (50mg) at one session, and placebo at the other session, in a randomized and double-blind fashion. Participants were tested for changes in sensitivity to heat, cold, and mechanical pain. Additionally, we collected measures of mood and opioid withdrawal symptoms during the laboratory sessions and at home the night following each session. At baseline, the fibromyalgia group exhibited more somatic complaints, greater sensory sensitivity, more opioid withdrawal somatic symptoms, and lower mechanical and cold pain-tolerance than did the healthy control group. Neither group experienced changes in pain sensitivity due to naltrexone administration. Naltrexone did not differentially affect self-reported withdrawal symptoms, or mood, in the fibromyalgia and control groups. Consistent with prior research, there was no evidence found for abnormal endogenous opioid activity in women with fibromyalgia

Renewing the Exploration Approach for Mid-Enthalpy Systems: Examples from Northern England and Scotland

After a promising start in the 1970s and 80s, the UK rather fell behind other countries in the search for viable mid-enthalpy geothermal resources. This situation began to turn around in 2004, when the first of three deep geothermal exploration boreholes were drilled in northern England. What distinguished these from earlier drilling in Cornwall was the deliberate search for naturallyhigh permeability associated with major faults, especially those that have undergone strike-slip reactivation during the Cenozoic. Boreholes at Eastgate in the North Pennines targeted buried radiothermal granite, whereas the 1,821m-deep Science Central Borehole in Newcastle upon Tyne targeted a postulated deep sedimentary aquifer (the Fell Sandstones), which were inferred to be connected laterally to the granitic heat source by a major fault (the reactivation of the Iapetus geo-suture). The drilling was in both cases rewarded with impressive heat flows, and in the case of Eastgate with what is believed to be the highest permeability yet found in a deep granite batholith anywhere in the world. In parallel with these developments, a re-assessment was made of the preexisting geothermal heat flow database for the UK, applying newly-standardised correction protocols for palaeoclimatic and topographic distortions, which were found to be particularly marked in Scotland (where only shallow boreholes had been used to establish geothermal gradients in the original 1980s analysis), Similar prospects in northern England (similar to that drilled at Science Central) are now the focus of commercial exploration efforts. Appraisal of fault dispositions relative to the present-day maximum compressive stress azimuth are being used to identify the most promising areas for intersecting fault-related permeability at depth. New geophysical tools – most notably atomic dielectric resonance scanning – are also being appraised for their ability to directly detect features (such as hot brines) which are indicative of localised convection in target fault zones and aquifers

Ion beam analysis of microcrystalline quartz artifacts from the Reed Mound Site, Delaware County, Oklahoma

Ion beam analysis (IBA) has been a powerful, non-destructive tool for archaeological research worldwide for over four decades, yet its full potential is seldom realized in North American archaeology. Herein the potential of particle induced X-ray emission spectrometry (PIXE) as a tool for future Ozarks chert provenance studies is evaluated based on its ability to facilitate (1) discrimination of Ozarks chert materials from different geological formations and (2) identification of discrete groups of artifacts from the same geological formation. In addition, PIXE was also used to evaluate the elemental heterogeneity of Ozarks chert materials. Thirty chert (microcrystalline quartz) artifacts were visually sorted and classified according to macroscopic features characteristic of certain chert resources from particular Ozarks geological formations. The elemental concentrations obtained from PIXE analysis underwent multivariate statistical analyses in order to gain insight from the data. The results indicate that PIXE could be a useful tool for assigning Ozarks chert materials to their respective geological formations, and possibly for determining regional or sub-regional provenance

The Self-Regulated Growth of Supermassive Black Holes

We present a series of simulations of the self--regulated growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galaxies via three different fueling mechanisms: major mergers, minor mergers, and disk instabilities. The SMBHs in all three scenarios follow the same black hole fundamental plane (BHFP) and correlation with bulge binding energy seen in simulations of major mergers, and observed locally. Furthermore, provided that the total gas supply is significantly larger than the mass of the SMBH, its limiting mass is not influenced by the amount of gas available or the efficiency of black hole growth. This supports the assertion that SMBHs accrete until they reach a critical mass at which feedback is sufficient to unbind the gas locally, terminating the inflow and stalling further growth. At the same time, while minor and major mergers follow the same projected correlations (e.g., the $M_{BH}-\sigma$ and Magorrian relations), SMBHs grown via disk instabilities do not, owing to structural differences between the host bulges. This finding is supported by recent observations of SMBHs in pseudobulges and bulges in barred systems, as compared to those hosted by classical bulges. Taken together, this provides support for the BHFP and binding energy correlations as being more "fundamental" than other proposed correlations in that they reflect the physical mechanism driving the co-evolution of SMBHs and spheroids.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Rare earth elements, iron and manganese in ochre-precipitates and wetland soils of a passive treatment system for acid mine drainage

The rare earth elements (REE) along with iron and manganese distribution in ochre-precipitates and wetland soils in a passive system for acid mine drainage treatment (Jales, Portugal) was studied. The results obtained by instrumental neutron activation analysis showed a higher incorporation of the light REE (particularly La and Ce) by the ochre-precipitates resulting from the mine water-limestone interaction. These fluffy materials influence the entrance of the first wetland where a correlation between Fe and La and Ce was found. Then Mn phases appear to play a more important role controlling REE distribution in the remaining area of the wetland soils.Thanks to EDM (Empresa de Desenvolvimento Mineiro, S.A.) for providing access to the water treatment plant, and to the staff of the Portuguese Research Reactor (RPI) of CTN/IST. C2TN authors gratefully acknowledge the FCT (the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation) support through the UID/Multi/04349/2013. This work is co-funded by European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, based on COMPETE 2020 (Programa Operacional da Competitividade e Internacionalização), project ICT (UID/GEO/04683/2013) with reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007690 and national funds provided by FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ghosts in the Attic: Mapping the Stellar Content of the S0 Galaxy NGC 5102

The spatial distribution of stars in the nearby S0 galaxy NGC 5102 is investigated using images obtained with WIRCam and MegaCam on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. With the exception of gaps between detector elements, the entire galaxy is surveyed in r' and i', while the J and Ks data extend out to 6 kpc (7 disk scale lengths). A modest population of main sequence (MS) stars with M_V < -3.5 and ages 70 Myr are detected throughout the disk, with the majority located in the southern half of the galaxy. The ratio of C stars to bright M giants is consistent with an overall increase in the star formation rate within the past 1 Gyr. Star-forming activity during the interval 0.1 - 2 Gyr was more centrally concentrated than during the past 100 Myr. The structure of the disk changes near 5 kpc (5.5 disk scale lengths). RSGs and bright AGB stars are traced out to a radius of 14 kpc (15.6 scale lengths) along the southern portion of the major axis, while a tentative detection is also made of bright AGB stars at a projected distance of 16 kpc along the south east minor axis. A large clump of AGB stars that subtends an arcmin is identified to the west of the galaxy center. It is argued that this is the remnant of a companion galaxy that triggered past episodes of elevated star-forming activity.Comment: Accepted for publication in the A

Molecular Gas in the z=1.2 Ultraluminous Merger GOODS J123634.53+621241.3

We report the detection of CO(2-1) emission from the z=1.2 ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) GOODS J123634.53+621241.3 (also known as the sub-millimeter galaxy GN26). These observations represent the first discovery of high-redshift CO emission using the new Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-Wave Astronomy (CARMA). Of all high-redshift (z>1) galaxies within the GOODS-North field, this source has the largest far-infrared (FIR) flux observed in the Spitzer 70um and 160um bands. The CO redshift confirms the optical identification of the source, and the bright CO(2-1) line suggests the presence of a large molecular gas reservoir of about 7x10^10 M(sun). The infrared-to-CO luminosity ratio of L(IR)/L'(CO) = 80+/-30 L(sun) (K Km/s pc^2)^-1 is slightly smaller than the average ratio found in local ULIRGs and high-redshift sub-millimeter galaxies. The short star-formation time scale of about 70 Myr is consistent with a starburst associated with the merger event and is much shorter than the time scales for spiral galaxies and estimates made for high-redshift galaxies selected on the basis of their B-z and z-K colors.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Unveiling the Nature of Submillimeter Galaxy SXDF850.6

We present an 880 micron Submillimeter Array (SMA) detection of the submillimeter galaxy SXDF850.6. SXDF850.6 is a bright source (S(850 micron) = 8 mJy) detected in the SCUBA Half Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES), and has multiple possible radio counterparts in its deep radio image obtained at the VLA. Our new SMA detection finds that the submm emission coincides with the brightest radio emission that is found ~8" north of the coordinates determined from SCUBA. Despite the lack of detectable counterparts in deep UV/optical images, we find a source at the SMA position in near-infrared and longer wavelength images. We perform SED model fits to UV-optical-IR photometry (u, B, V, R, i', z', J, H, K, 3.6 micron, 4.5 micron, 5.8 micron, and 8.0 micron) and to submm-radio photometry (850 micron, 880 micron, 1100 micron, and 21 cm) independently, and we find both are well described by starburst templates at a redshift of z ~= 2.2 (+/- 0.3). The best-fit parameters from the UV-optical-IR SED fit are a redshift of z = 1.87 (+0.15/-0.07), a stellar mass of M_star = 2.5 +2.2/-0.3 x 10^11 M_sun, an extinction of A_V = 3.0 (+0.3/-1.0) mag, and an age of 720 (+1880/-210) Myr. The submm-radio SED fit provides a consistent redshift of z ~ 1.8-2.5, an IR luminosity of L_IR = (7-26) x 10^12 L_sun, and a star formation rate of 1300-4500 M_sun/yr. These results suggest that SXDF850.6 is a mature system already having a massive amount of old stellar population constructed before its submm bright phase and is experiencing a dusty starburst, possibly induced by major mergers.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa