2,880 research outputs found
Jupiter's polar ionospheric flows: measured intensity and velocity variations poleward of the main auroral oval
Recent analysis of high-resolution spectra of Doppler-shifted H3+ emission from the auroral/polar regions of Jupiter revealed a complex wind system, with a persistent auroral electrojet and strong anti-sunward flows in a region of lesser intensity centred around the magnetic pole [ Stallard et al., 2001 ]. This region, which we have called the Dark Polar Region (DPR), is re-investigated, transforming the observed line-of-sight velocities into a frame of reference fixed with respect to the magnetic pole. The DPR is shown to include a region essentially stagnant in this frame of reference (the f-DPR). We identify it as a region coupled to open magnetotail field lines. There is also a transition region in which the ion velocity returns to corotation (the r-DPR)
Toward a Cosmological Dual to Inflation
We derive all single-field cosmologies with unit sound speed that generate scale invariant curvature perturbations on a dynamical attractor background. We identify three distinct phases: slow-roll inflation; a slowly contracting adiabatic ekpyrotic phase, described by a rapidly varying equation of state; and a novel adiabatic ekpyrotic phase on a slowly expanding background. All of these yield identical power spectra. The degeneracy is broken at the 3-point level: unlike the nearly Gaussian spectrum of slow-roll inflation, adiabatic ekpyrosis predicts large non-Gaussianities on small scales
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How timely is access to palliative care medicines in the community? A mixed methods study in a UK city
YesObjective: To investigate timely access to palliative
medicines/drugs (PMs) from community pharmacies to
inform palliative care service delivery.
Design: Mixed methods in two sequential phases: (1)
prospective audit of prescriptions and concurrent survey
of patients/representatives collecting PMs from pharmacy
and (2) interviews with community pharmacists (CPs) and
other healthcare professionals (HCPs).
Setting: Five community pharmacies in Sheffield, UK and
HCPs that deliver palliative care in that community.
Participants: Phase 1: five CPs: two providing access to
PMs within a locally commissioned service (LCS) and three
not in the LCS; 55 patients/representatives who completed
the survey when accessing PMs and phase 2: 16 HCPs,
including five phase 1 CPs, were interviewed.
Results: The prescription audit collected information on
75 prescriptions (75 patients) with 271 individual PMs;
55 patients/representatives (73%) completed the survey.
Patients/representatives reported 73% of PMs were
needed urgently. In 80% of cases, patients/representatives
received all PMs on the first pharmacy visit. One in five
had to travel to more than one pharmacy to access PMs.
The range of PMs stocked by pharmacies was the key
facilitating factor. CPs reported practical issues causing
difficulty keeping PMs in stock and playing a reactive
role with palliative prescriptions. Confidentiality concerns
were cited by other HCPs who were reluctant to share
key patient information proactively with pharmacy teams.
Inadequate information transfer, lack of CP integration into
the care of palliative patients and poor HCP knowledge
of which pharmacies stock PMs meant patients and their
families were not always able to access PMs promptly.
Conclusions: Consistent routine information transfer and
integration of pharmacy teams in the care of palliative
patients are needed to achieve timely access to PMs.
Commissioners of PM access schemes should review and
monitor access. HCPs need to be routinely made aware
and reminded about the service and its locations.EJM received research funding from Pharmacy Research UK and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as well as support from St Luke’s Hospice, Sheffield. AB and JDM report grants from Pharmacy Research UK during the conduct of the study
STAT5a/b contribute to sex bias in vascular disease: A neuroendocrine perspective
Previous studies have elucidated a neuroendocrine mechanism consisting of the hypothalamus (growth hormone releasing hormone, GHRH) – pituitary (growth hormone, GH) – STAT5a/b axis that underlies sex-biased gene expression in the liver. It is now established that male vs female patterned secretion of GHRH, and thus of circulating GH levels (“pulsatile” vs “more continuous” respectively), leading to differently patterned activation of PY-STAT5a/b in hepatocytes results in sex-biased gene expression of cohorts of hundreds of downstream genes. This review outlines new data in support of a STAT5a/b-based mechanism of sex bias in the vascular disease pulmonary hypertension (PH). Puzzling observations in PH include its 2-4-fold higher prevalence in women but a male-dominance in many rodent models, and, paradoxically, inhibition of PH development by estrogens in such models. We observed that conditional deletion of STAT5a/b in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) in mice converted the male-dominant model of chronic hypoxia-induced PH into a female-dominant phenotype. In human idiopathic PH, there was reduced STAT5a/b and PY-STAT5 in cells in late-stage obliterative pulmonary arterial lesions in both men and women. A juxtaposition of the prior liver data with the newer PH-related data drew attention to the hypothalamus-GH-STAT5 axis, which is the major target of estrogens at the level of the hypothalamus. This hypothesis explains many of the puzzling aspects of sex bias in PH in humans and rodent models. The extension of STAT5-anchored mechanisms of sex bias to vascular disease emphasizes the contribution of central neuroendocrine processes in generating sexual dimorphism in different tissues and cell types
Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans accurately predict differing body fat content in live sheep
Background
There is considerable interest in implementing mobile scanning technology for on-farm body composition analysis on live animals. These experiments evaluated the use of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) as an accurate method of total body fat measurement in live sheep.
Results
In Exp. 1, visceral and whole body fat analysis was undertaken in sheep with body condition scores (BCS) in the range 2 to 3.25 (scale 1: thin to 5: fat). The relationship of BCS was moderately correlated with visceral fat depot mass (r = 0.59, P 0.05, n = 9). There was a moderate correlation between DXA body fat and BCS (r = 0.70, P < 0.01, n = 17), and DXA body fat was highly correlated with chemical body fat (r = 0.81, P < 0.001, n = 9). In Exp. 3, a series of five DXA scans, at 8-week intervals, was performed on growing sheep over a 32-week period. The average BCS ranged from 2.39 ± 0.07 (S.E.M.) to 3.05 ± 0.11 and the DXA body fat (%) ranged from 16.8 ± 0.8 to 24.2 ± 1.2. There was a moderate correlation between DXA body fat and BCS over the 32 weeks (r = 0.61, P < 0.001, n = 24).
Conclusions
Overall, these experiments indicated that there was good agreement between BCS, DXA and chemical analysis for measuring total body fat in sheep, and that DXA scanning is a valid method for longitudinal measurement of total body fat in live sheep
Animal welfare indicators for sheep during sea transport: The effect of voyage day and time of day
Ensuring the well-being of animals during transport is becoming an increasingly important societal concern. The Australian livestock export industry recognises the need for comprehensive monitoring and reporting on animal welfare during sea transport. It is predicted that pen-side assessments of sheep can be used to monitor environmental conditions, resource access, and animal health and behavioural outcomes throughout a sea voyage. Pen-side assessments by observation are non-invasive and practical to apply in an industry setting. This study monitored sheep using a pilot list of welfare indicators during two sea voyages from Australia to the Middle East, in contrasting seasons. Sheep behaviour, environment and resources were recorded three times daily via pen-side observations of six pens of Merino wethers (castrated males), repeated over three decks for each voyage. Behavioural outcomes were examined for the effect of sampling frequency on group assessments. The number of behavioural measures were reduced via Principal Component (PC) analysis. The primary three PC factors were tested against the time of sampling and pen location after accounting for the effect of environmental- and resource-based predictor variables. PC 1 (24.0 % of the total variance) described activity levels, with sheep on Voyage B being more active in the morning and resting or recumbent in the middle of the afternoon and evening. PC 2 (14.7 %) reflected heat responses with the majority of the variation in these data accounted for by changes in Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) and manure pad moisture. The heat responses described by PC 2 also varied by voyage day (p < 0.001) and time point (p < 0.001). PC 3 scores (9.5 %) reflected flight distances and feeding behaviour and strongly correlated to WBGT and pellet consumption per head per day. Feeding behaviour generally became more competitive, and flight distances reduced as both voyages progressed. Results indicate that a comprehensive welfare monitoring protocol requires repeated daily sampling throughout a voyage. The findings of this study are pertinent for developing a sampling strategy to assess sheep welfare during sea transport
Absence of a dose-rate effect in the transformation of C3H 10T1/2 cells by α-particles
The findings of Hill et al. (1984) on the greatly enhanced transformation frequencies at very low dose rates of fission neutrons induced us to perform an analogous study with -particles at comparable dose rates. Transformation frequencies were determined with γ-rays at high dose rate (0·5 Gy/min), and with -particles at high (0·2 Gy/min) and at low dose rates (0·83-2·5 mGy/min) in the C3H 10T1/2 cell system.
α-particles were substantially more effective than γ-rays, both for cell inactivation and for neoplastic transformation at high and low dose rates. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for cell inactivation and for neoplastic transformation was of similar magnitude, and ranged from about 3 at an -particle dose of 2 Gy to values of the order of 10 at 0·25 Gy. In contrast to the experiments of Hill et al. (1984) with fission neutrons, no increased transformation frequencies were observed when the -particle dose was protracted over several hours
Conformationally restricted calpain inhibitors
The cysteine protease calpain-I is linked to several diseases and is therefore a valuable target for inhibition. Selective inhibition of calpain-I has proved difficult as most compounds target the active site and inhibit a broad spectrum of cysteine proteases as well as other calpain isoforms. Selective inhibitors might not only be potential drugs but should act as tools to explore the physiological and pathophysiological roles of calpain-I. α-Mercaptoacrylic acid based calpain inhibitors are potent, cell permeable and selective inhibitors of calpain-I and calpain-II. These inhibitors target the calcium binding domain PEF(S) of calpain-I and -II. Here X-ray diffraction analysis of co-crystals of PEF(S) revealed that the disulfide form of an α-mercaptoacrylic acid bound within a hydrophobic groove that is also targeted by a calpastatin inhibitory region and made a greater number of favourable interactions with the protein than the reduced sulfhydryl form. Measurement of the inhibitory potency of the α-mercaptoacrylic acids and X-ray crystallography revealed that the IC50 values decreased significantly on oxidation as a consequence of the stereo-electronic properties of disulfide bonds that restrict rotation around the S–S bond. Consequently, thioether analogues inhibited calpain-I with potencies similar to those of the free sulfhydryl forms of α-mercaptoacrylic acids
Suspended particulate matter dynamics in coastal waters from ocean color: Application to the northern Gulf of Mexico
Suspended particulate matter (SPM) plays an important role in primary production, pollutant transport, and other biogeochemical processes in coastal marine environments. We present an empirical two-band ocean color remote sensing reflectance algorithm (Rrs670/ Rrs555) for SPM concentrations developed using field measurements obtained in coastal waters influenced by the Mississippi River in 2000, 2002, and 2004. The ratio algorithm was also found to be highly correlated to backscattering coefficient (bbp(555), r2 = 0.96), the backscattering ratio (bbp(555) /bp(555), r2 = 0.82) and the spectral backscattering slope (γ, r2 = 0.72) in March 2002, a period with large hydrographic variability in the study area. Strong correlations between water column bbp(555), SPM and nonalgal absorption anap(443) suggest the dominant influence of nonalgal particles on bbp. Sea WiFS derived SPM and γ distributions indicated event-based variability linked to energetic disturbances such as frontal passages, resuspension, and river discharge that with bbp/bp could reveal refractive index and particle size characteristics in the coastal environment
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