High-energy X-rays from the Crab Nebula

Balloon measurement of high energy X-ray spectrum from Crab Nebul

Radioactivity in Supernova Remnants

We calculate implications of the idea developed by Burbidge et al. that the nearly exponential decrease after the (irst 100 days of the light-curves of Type i supernovae is due to nuclear energy released by the spontaneous fission of Cf354. Uncertainty of the correctness of the Cf-hypothesis qualifies any interpretation of (1) supernovae light-curves, (2) the location and mechanism of heavy-element nucleosynthesis by rapid neutron captures, and (3) the present-day energy balance in supernova remnants We demonstrate that, if the Cf-hypothesis is correct, the Crab Nebula presently has a radioactive energy input of 1 2 X 1030 ergs/sec, of which amount 92 per cent is in the form of kinetic energy of heavy ions (5-6-MeV alphaparticles and 60-140-MeV fission fragments). That much energy would be significantly related to observed properties of the nebula. An experimental test of the Cf-hypothesis may be made by searching for gamma-ray lines associated with transbismuth radioactivity The anticipated line spectrum is complex The strongest line flux is 9 7 X 10-0 from the Crab for the 390-keV line of Cf140. Good angular and energy resolution will be required to resolve the lines from the sky backgiound

Examining Opioid Risk Mitigation Practices in a Rural Pain Management Clinic: A Quality Improvement Project

Opioid misuse and opioid use disorder rates have led to record opioid-related deaths nationally. Virginia public health officials declared a public health emergency due to the opioid crisis. Provider prescribing practices are part of this complex local and national public health problem. Evidence indicates that prescribers should assess for risks related to substance misuse and abuse in high-risk populations, such as patients on long-term opioid therapy. By evaluating risk level, the provider has additional information to guide treatment decisions and a baseline for assessing future changes in risk status. This project used quality improvement methods to study the implementation of an opioid risk screening tool in a rural pain management clinic. Addiction screening was implemented in two iterative Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles, aiming to screen 80% of eligible patients by Cycle 2. Participants completed an anonymous paper version of the Opioid Risk Tool-Opioid Use Disorder (ORT-OUD) as part of their intake assessment paperwork. The number of patients seen, the number and percent of eligible patients, screened patients, and the risk level for each screened patient was calculated. The project implemented the ORT-OUD screening with 78 patients, three of which completed the screening with nurse assistance. Thus, 100% of eligible patients were screened, meeting the screening goal. The screening identified 16 patients (21%) as high-risk. Opioid risk screening can provide valuable information when assessing and treating patients receiving long-term opioid therapy for chronic non-malignant pain. This project successfully implemented an opioid risk screening protocol using an interdisciplinary team approach

Regulation of Src and Csk nonreceptor tyrosine kinases in the filasterean Ministeria vibrans

ACS AuthorChoice - This is an open access article published under an ACS AuthorChoice License, which permits copying and redistribution of the article or any adaptations for non-commercial purposes.The development of the phosphotyrosine-based signaling system predated the evolution of multicellular animals. Single-celled choanoflagellates, the closest living relatives to metazoans, possess numerous tyrosine kinases, including Src family nonreceptor tyrosine kinases. Choanoflagellates also have Csk (C-terminal Src kinase), the enzyme that regulates Src in metazoans; however, choanoflagellate Csk kinases fail to repress the cognate Src. Here, we have cloned and characterized Src and Csk kinases from Ministeria vibrans, a filasterean (the sister group to metazoans and choanoflagellates). The two Src kinases (MvSrc1 and MvSrc2) are enzymatically active Src kinases, although they have low activity toward mammalian cellular proteins. Unexpectedly, MvSrc2 has significant Ser/Thr kinase activity. The Csk homologue (MvCsk) is enzymatically inactive and fails to repress MvSrc activity. We suggest that the low activity of MvCsk is due to sequences in the SH2-kinase interface, and we show that a point mutation in this region partially restores MvCsk activity. The inactivity of filasterean Csk kinases is consistent with a model in which the stringent regulation of Src family kinases arose more recently in evolution, after the split between choanoflagellates and multicellular animals. © 2014 American Chemical Society.Peer Reviewe

Food habits of Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus) off the coast of New England

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Fishery Bulletin 107 (2009): 384–394.Although the Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus) is one of the most common dolphins off New England, little has been documented about its diet in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Current federal protection of marine mammals limits the supply of animals for investigation to those incidentally caught in the nets of commercial fishermen with observers aboard. Stomachs of 62 L. acutus were examined; of these 62 individuals, 28 of them were caught by net and 34 were animals stranded on Cape Cod. Most of the net-caught L. acutus were from the deeper waters of the Gulf of Maine. A single stomach was from the continental slope south of Georges Bank. At least twenty-six fish species and three cephalopod species were eaten. The predominant prey were silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis), spoonarm octopus (Bathypolypus bairdii), and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus). The stomach from a net-caught L. acutus on the continental slope contained 7750 otoliths of the Madeira lanternfish (Ceratoscopelus maderensis). Sand lances (Ammodytes spp.) were the most abundant (541 otoliths) species in the stomachs of stranded L. acutus. Seasonal variation in diet was indicated; pelagic Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) was the most important prey in summer, but was rare in winter. The average length of fish prey was approximately 200 mm, and the average mantle length of cephalopod prey was approximately 50 mm

Optics Solutions for the Collimation Insertion of LHC

While the two collimation insertions in the LHC must have similar basic layouts and match to almost identical dispersion suppressors to respect the geometry of the existing tunnel, their different roles impose opposite requirements on the normalized dispersion within them. For betatron collimation it must be near zero, while for momentum collimation it must have a peak at the location of the primary collimator, immediately after the dispersion suppressor. The insertion lattice solution found for the latter case requires up to 30% asymmetry in the quadrupole gradients (in line with the current trend in LHC lattice development to break the exact antisymmetry within insertions). To achieve this using twin-aperture warm quadrupoles, the modules making up each quadrupole will be wired in such a way that the two beams still see the same sequence of focusing fields. We describe the optimum setup, exibility and collimation quality for the two insertions

Late miocene-pliocene range growth in the interior of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

The time-space patterns of deformation throughout the Indo-Asian collision zone can place constraints on the processes responsible for the development of high topography. Although most agree that high topography associated with the Tibetan Plateau expanded throughout the Cenozoic, it is increasingly being recognized that portions of the present-day plateau experienced a protracted history of deformation starting before or shortly after collision. Deciphering the history of deformation in these regions is central to understanding the dynamics of plateau formation. Here, we report new constraints on the timing of shortening along the southern margin of the Gonghe Basin complex, a broad Tertiary-Quaternary depocenter within the interior region of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Deformation of basin strata, lithostratigraphic patterns, and changes in paleocurrents record the growth of structures along the southern margin of the basin. A novel combination of magnetostratigraphy and cosmogenic burial ages from fluvial deposits provides a chronology that suggests that sediment accumulation initiated at ca. 20 Ma and that indicates the basin-bounding structures became active during the late Miocene, between ca. 10 and 7 Ma. The probable onset of basin development in the early Miocene is similar to other regions of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, and it appears to herald the onset of widespread contractional deformation in the region. Moreover, late Miocene activity on thrusts bounding the southern margin of Gonghe Basin was broadly synchronous with the rise of mountain ranges elsewhere along the periphery of the plateau, suggesting a coordinated pulse of growth of high topography during this time

MARIA M4:clinical evaluation of a prototype ultrawideband radar scanner for breast cancer detection

A microwave imaging system has been developed as a clinical diagnostic tool operating in the 3- to 8-GHz region using multistatic data collection. A total of 86 patients recruited from a symptomatic breast care clinic were scanned with a prototype design. The resultant three-dimensional images have been compared “blind” with available ultrasound and mammogram images to determine the detection rate. Images show the location of the strongest signal, and this corresponded in both older and younger women, with sensitivity of [Formula: see text] , which was found to be maintained in dense breasts. The pathway from clinical prototype to clinical evaluation is outlined