Snowmelt timing alters shallow but not deep soil moisture in the Sierra Nevada

Roughly one-third of the Earth's land surface is seasonally covered by snow. In many of these ecosystems, the spring snowpack is melting earlier due to climatic warming and atmospheric dust deposition, which could greatly modify soil water resources during the growing season. Though snowmelt timing is known to influence soil water availability during summer, there is little known about the depth of the effects and how long the effects persist. We therefore manipulated the timing of seasonal snowmelt in a high-elevation mixed-conifer forest in a Mediterranean climate during consecutive wet and dry years. The snow-all-gone (SAG) date was advanced by 6 days in the wet year and 3 days in the dry year using black sand to reduce the snow surface albedo. To maximize variation in snowmelt timing, we also postponed the SAG date by 8 days in the wet year and 16 days in the dry year using white fabric to shade the snowpack from solar radiation. We found that deeper soil water (30-60 cm) did not show a statistically significant response to snowmelt timing. Shallow soil water (0-30 cm), however, responded strongly to snowmelt timing. The drying effect of accelerated snowmelt lasted 2 months in the 0-15 cm depth and at least 4 months in the 15-30 cm depth. Therefore, the legacy of snowmelt timing on soil moisture can persist through dry periods, and continued earlier snowmelt due to climatic warming and windblown dust could reduce near-surface water storage and availability to plants and soil biota. Key Points The hydrological signal of snowmelt timing was strongest in shallow soil Effects of snowmelt timing on soil moisture lasted 2-4 months Advancing snowmelt timing by 2-3 weeks depleted shallow soil water by one third © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved

Prevalence of abnormal findings in 230 knees of asymptomatic adults using 3.0 T MRI.

OBJECTIVE: To identify abnormalities in asymptomatic sedentary individuals using 3.0 Tesla high-resolution MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cohort comprised of 230 knees of 115 uninjured sedentary adults (51 males, 64 females; median age: 44 years). All participants had bilateral knee 3.0 T MRIs. Two senior musculoskeletal radiologists graded all intraarticular knee structures using validated scoring systems. Participants completed Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score questionnaires at the time of the MRI scan. RESULTS: MRI showed abnormalities in the majority (97%) of knees. Thirty percent knees had meniscal tears: horizontal (23%), complex (3%), vertical (2%), radial (2%) and bucket handle (1%). Cartilage and bone marrow abnormalities were prevalent at the patellofemoral joint (57% knees and 48% knees, respectively). Moderate and severe cartilage lesions were common, in 19% and 31% knees, respectively, while moderate and severe bone marrow oedema in 19% and 31% knees, respectively. Moderate-intensity lesion in tendons was found in 21% knees and high-grade tendonitis in 6% knees-the patellar (11% and 2%, respectively) and quadriceps (7% and 2%, respectively) tendons being most affected. Three percent partial ligamentous ruptures were found, especially of the anterior cruciate ligament (2%). CONCLUSION: Nearly all knees of asymptomatic adults showed abnormalities in at least one knee structure on MRI. Meniscal tears, cartilage and bone marrow lesions of the patellofemoral joint were the most common pathological findings. Bucket handle and complex meniscal tears were reported for the first time in asymptomatic knees

Is the immediate effect of marathon running on novice runners' knee joints sustained within 6 months after the run? A follow-up 3.0 T MRI study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate changes in the knee joints of asymptomatic first-time marathon runners, using 3.0 T MRI, 6 months after finishing marathon training and run. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six months after their participation in a baseline study regarding their knee joints, 44 asymptomatic novice marathoners (17 males, 27 females, mean age 46 years old) agreed to participate in a repeat MRI investigation: 37 completed both a standardized 4-month-long training programme and the marathon (marathon runners); and 7 dropped out during training (pre-race dropouts). The participants already underwent bilateral 3.0 T MRIs: 6 months before and 2 weeks after their first marathon, the London Marathon 2017. This study was a follow-up assessment of their knee joints. Each knee structure was assessed using validated scoring/grading systems at all time points. RESULTS: Two weeks after the marathon, 3 pre-marathon bone marrow lesions and 2 cartilage lesions showed decrease in radiological score on MRI, and the improvement was sustained at the 6-month follow-up. New improvements were observed on MRI at follow-up: 5 pre-existing bone marrow lesions and 3 cartilage lesions that remained unchanged immediately after the marathon reduced in their extent 6 months later. No further lesions appeared at follow-up, and the 2-week post-marathon lesions showed signs of reversibility: 10 of 18 bone marrow oedema-like signals and 3 of 21 cartilage lesions decreased on MRI. CONCLUSION: The knees of novice runners achieved sustained improvement, for at least 6 months post-marathon, in the condition of their bone marrow and articular cartilage

Posit and Floating-Point Based Izhikevich Neuron: A Comparison of Arithmetic

Preprint submitted to Elsevier. It has not been certified by peer review.Reduced precision number formats are gaining popularity in many areas of computational science, due to their potential to improve energy efficiency, silicon use, and speed. However, this is often at the expense of introducing arithmetic errors which affect the accuracy of a system. The optimal balance must be struck, judiciously choosing a number format using as few bits as possible, while minimising accuracy loss. In this study, we examine one such format, posit arithmetic as a replacement for floating-point when conducting spiking neuron simulations, specifically using the Izhikevich neuron model. This model is capable of simulating complex neural firing behaviours, 20 of which were originally identified by Izhikevich and are used in this study. We compare the accuracy, spike count, and spike timing of the two arithmetic systems at different bit-depths against a 64-bit floating-point gold-standard. Additionally, we test a rescaled set of Izhikevich equations to mitigate against arithmetic errors by taking advantage of posit arithmetic’s tapered accuracy.Our findings indicate that there is no difference in performance between 32-bit posit, 32-bit floating-point, and our reference standard for 95% of the tested firing types. However, at 16-bit, both arithmetic systems diverge from the 64-bit reference, albeit non-uniformly. For instance, the posit implementation demonstrates an accumulated spike timing error of 0.5ms over a 1000ms simulation compared to 9ms for floating-point – an 18x improvement using posit arithmetic for regular (tonic) spiking. This finding holds particular importance given the prevalence of this particular firing type in specific regions of the brain. Furthermore, when we rescale the neuron equations, this error is eliminated altogether. Hence, our results demonstrate that posit arithmetic is not only a viable replacement for 64-bit floating-point in these simulations, it can do so while using 4× fewer bits. As a Posit Arithmetic Unit has similar area to a Floating Point Unit with the same bit width, this constitutes a significant saving of hardware resources while maintaining full accuracy compared to 64-bit floating-point.TFH was part funded by Sundance Multiprocesssor Ltd., UK and an EPSRC Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTP) grant. JK was funded by the EPSRC (grant EP/V052241/1)

PSK4 COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF TOPICAL CALCIPOTRIOL/BETAMETHASONE DIPROPIONATE TWOCOMPOUND PRODUCT IN A SCOTTISH CARE MODEL

Aprovada pel gerent de l'Institut Municipal d'Hisenda el 01-07-200

Informing investment to reduce inequalities: a modelling approach

Background: Reducing health inequalities is an important policy objective but there is limited quantitative information about the impact of specific interventions. Objectives: To provide estimates of the impact of a range of interventions on health and health inequalities. Materials and methods: Literature reviews were conducted to identify the best evidence linking interventions to mortality and hospital admissions. We examined interventions across the determinants of health: a ‘living wage’; changes to benefits, taxation and employment; active travel; tobacco taxation; smoking cessation, alcohol brief interventions, and weight management services. A model was developed to estimate mortality and years of life lost (YLL) in intervention and comparison populations over a 20-year time period following interventions delivered only in the first year. We estimated changes in inequalities using the relative index of inequality (RII). Results: Introduction of a ‘living wage’ generated the largest beneficial health impact, with modest reductions in health inequalities. Benefits increases had modest positive impacts on health and health inequalities. Income tax increases had negative impacts on population health but reduced inequalities, while council tax increases worsened both health and health inequalities. Active travel increases had minimally positive effects on population health but widened health inequalities. Increases in employment reduced inequalities only when targeted to the most deprived groups. Tobacco taxation had modestly positive impacts on health but little impact on health inequalities. Alcohol brief interventions had modestly positive impacts on health and health inequalities only when strongly socially targeted, while smoking cessation and weight-reduction programmes had minimal impacts on health and health inequalities even when socially targeted. Conclusions: Interventions have markedly different effects on mortality, hospitalisations and inequalities. The most effective (and likely cost-effective) interventions for reducing inequalities were regulatory and tax options. Interventions focused on individual agency were much less likely to impact on inequalities, even when targeted at the most deprived communities

Detection of metallic cobalt and chromium liver deposition following failed hip replacement using T2* and R2 magnetic resonance

BACKGROUND: Failed hip prostheses can cause elevated circulating cobalt and chromium levels, with rare reports of fatal systemic organ deposition, including cobalt cardiomyopathy. Although blood cobalt and chromium levels are easily measured, organ deposition is difficult to detect without invasive biopsy. The T2* magnetic resonance (MR) method is used to quantify tissue iron deposition, and plays an important role in the management of iron-loading conditions. Cobalt and chromium, like iron, also affect magnetism and are proposed MR contrast agents. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a case of a 44-year-old male with a failed hip implant and very elevated blood cobalt and chromium levels. Despite normal cardiac MR findings, liver T2* and R2 values were abnormal, triggering tissue biopsy. Liver tissue analysis, including X-ray fluorescence, demonstrated heavy elemental cobalt and chromium deposition in macrophages, and no detectable iron. CONCLUSIONS: Our case demonstrates T2* and R2 quantification of liver metal deposition in a patient with a failed hip implant. Further work is needed to investigate the role of T2* and R2 MR in the detection of metal deposition from metal on metal hip prostheses

Measurement of the solenoid magnetic field

We describe the machine used to map the solenoid field and the data sets that were collected. The bulk of the note describes the analysis of this data. A series of small corrections are made; some taken from surveys and some derived from the data itself. Two fitting methods are defined and applied to all data sets. The final result is that the field map at normal operating current can be fitted to a function that obeys Maxwell with an r.m.s. residual of less than 5 Gauss. Systematic errors on the measurement of track sagitta due to the field uncertainty are estimated to be in the range 2.3E-4 to 12E-4, depending on the track rapidity. Finally, the representation of the map in Athena is briefly described