Cosmic Vortons and Particle Physics Constraints

We investigate the cosmological consequences of particle physics theories that admit stable loops of superconducting cosmic string - {\it vortons}. General symmetry breaking schemes are considered, in which strings are formed at one energy scale and subsequently become superconducting in a secondary phase transition at what may be a considerably lower energy scale. We estimate the abundances of the ensuing vortons, and thereby derive constraints on the relevant particle physics models from cosmological observations. These constraints significantly restrict the category of admissible Grand Unified theories, but are quite compatible with recently proposed effects whereby superconducting strings may have been formed close to the electroweak phase transition.Comment: 33 pages, 2 figures, RevTe

Cost effectiveness of a general practice chronic disease management plan for coronary heart disease in Australia

Background. The cost effectiveness of a general practice-based program for managing coronary heart disease (CHD) patients in Australia remains uncertain. We have explored this through an economic model.Methods. A secondary prevention program based on initial clinical assessment and 3 monthly review, optimising of pharmacotherapies and lifestyle modification, supported by a disease registry and financial incentives for quality of care and outcomes achieved was assessed in terms of incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER), in Australian dollars per disability adjusted life year (DALY) prevented.Results. Based on 2006 estimates, 263 487 DALYs were attributable to CHD in Australia. The proposed program would add $115 650 000 to the annual national heath expenditure. Using an estimated 15$8081 per DALY prevented. With more conservative estimates of effectiveness and uptake, estimates of up to $38 316 per DALY are observed in sensitivity analysis.Conclusions. Although innovation in CHD management promises improved future patient outcomes, many therapies and strategies proven to reduce morbidity and mortality are available today. A general practice-based program for the optimal application of current therapies is likely to be cost-effective and provide substantial and sustainable benefits to the Australian community.What is known about this topic? Chronic disease management programs are known to provide gains with respect to reductions in death and disability among patients with coronary heart disease. The cost effectiveness of such programs in the Australian context is not known.What does this paper add? This paper suggests that implementing a coronary heart disease program in Australia is highly cost-effective across a broad range of assumptions of uptake and effectiveness.What are the implications for practitioners? These data provide the economic rationale for the implementation of a chronic disease management program with a disease registry and regular review in Australia

Global Extensions of Spacetimes Describing Asymptotic Final States of Black Holes

We consider a globally hyperbolic, stationary spacetime containing a black hole but no white hole. We assume, further, that the event horizon, \tn, of the black hole is a Killing horizon with compact cross-sections. We prove that if surface gravity is non-zero constant throughout the horizon one can {\it globally} extend such a spacetime so that the image of $\cal N$ is a proper subset of a regular bifurcate Killing horizon in the enlarged spacetime. The necessary and sufficient conditions are given for the extendibility of matter fields to the enlarged spacetime. These conditions are automatically satisfied if the spacetime is static (and, hence ``$t$"-reflection symmetric) or stationary-axisymmetric with ``$t-\phi$" reflection isometry and the matter fields respect the reflection isometry. In addition, we prove that a necessary and sufficient condition for the constancy of the surface gravity on a Killing horizon is that the exterior derivative of the twist of the horizon Killing field vanish on the horizon. As a corollary of this, we recover a result of Carter that constancy of surface gravity holds for any black hole which is static or stationary- axisymmetric with the ``$t-\phi$" reflection isometry. No use of Einstein's equation is made in obtaining any of the above results. Taken together, these results support the view that any spacetime representing the asymptotic final state of a black hole formed by gravitational collapse may be assumed to possess a bifurcate Killing horizon or a Killing horizon with vanishing surface gravity.Comment: 20 pages, plain te

Donning a Novel Lower-Limb Restrictive Compression Garment During Training Augments Muscle Power and Strength

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(3): 890-899, 2020. The popularity of graduated compression garments (GCG) in sport and exercise is largely driven by the abundance of anecdotal claims suggesting their efficacy. A new line of compression apparel, restrictive compression garments (RCG), integrate novel resistance technology into lower-limb compression garments designed to provide variable resistance to movement. This study aimed to investigate the effect of donning an RCG during a 4-week training program on selected performance variables. Twelve college-aged males were recruited for four weeks of lower-body strength-power resistance training. Participants were randomized 1:1 and blinded to (i) an intervention group (RCG; n = 6) that donned a lower-body RCG during training or (ii) a control group (SHAM; n = 6) that donned a sham during identical training. Both groups demonstrated significant increases in 1-repetition maximum (1-RM) on a seated leg press after 4 weeks (both p \u3c 0.001), with RCG showing a significantly greater increase compared SHAM (p = 0.005, g = 3.35). Similarly, RCG demonstrated significantly greater increases in jump height, peak power, and average power compared to SHAM (p = 0.032, g = 3.44; p \u3c 0.001, g = 4.40; p \u3c 0.001, g = 4.50, respectively). Donning a RCG while engaging in lower-body strength-power training may augment increases 1-RM on a seated leg press, jump height, peak and average power, compared with same exercise training without an RCG

Observing Strategies for the Detection of Jupiter Analogs

To understand the frequency, and thus the formation and evolution, of planetary systems like our own solar system, it is critical to detect Jupiter-like planets in Jupiter-like orbits. For long-term radial-velocity monitoring, it is useful to estimate the observational effort required to reliably detect such objects, particularly in light of severe competition for limited telescope time. We perform detailed simulations of observational campaigns, maximizing the realism of the sampling of a set of simulated observations. We then compute the detection limits for each campaign to quantify the effect of increasing the number of observational epochs and varying their time coverage. We show that once there is sufficient time baseline to detect a given orbital period, it becomes less effective to add further time coverage-rather, the detectability of a planet scales roughly as the square root of the number of observations, independently of the number of orbital cycles included in the data string. We also show that no noise floor is reached, with a continuing improvement in detectability at the maximum number of observations N = 500 tested here.Peer reviewe

Effects of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α on Glucose Metabolism in Cultured Human Muscle Cells from Nondiabetic and Type 2 Diabetic Subjects

The effects of tumor necrosis factor-a (TNFα) on glucose uptake and glycogen synthase (GS) activity were studied in human skeletal muscle cell cultures from nondiabetic and type 2 diabetic subjects. In nondiabetic muscle cells, acute (90-Min) exposure to TNFα (5 ng/ml) stimulated glucose uptake (73 ± 14% increase) to a greater extent than insulin (37 ± 4%; P \u3c 0.02). The acute uptake response to TNFα in diabetic cells (51 ± 6% increase) was also greater than that to insulin (31 ± 3%; P \u3c 0.05). Prolonged (24-h) exposure of nondiabetic muscle cells to TNFα resulted in a further stimulation of uptake (152 ± 31%; P \u3c 0.05), whereas the increase in cells from type 2 diabetics was not significant compared with that in cells receiving acute treatment. After TNFα treatment, the level of glucose transporter-1 protein was elevated in nondiabetic (4.6-fold increase) and type 2 (1.7-fold) cells. Acute TNFα treatment had no effect on the fractional velocity of GS in either nondiabetic or type 2 cells. Prolonged exposure reduced the GS fractional velocity in both nondiabetic and diabetic cells. In summary, both acute and prolonged treatment with TNFα up-regulate glucose uptake activity in cultured human muscle cells, but reduce GS activity. Increased skeletal muscle glucose uptake in conditions of TNFα excess may serve as a compensatory mechanism in the insulin resistance of type 2 diabetes

Cool Jupiters greatly outnumber their toasty siblings : Occurrence rates from the Anglo-Australian Planet Search

This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©2019 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.Our understanding of planetary systems different to our own has grown dramatically in the past 30 yr. However, our efforts to ascertain the degree to which the Solar system is abnormal or unique have been hindered by the observational biases inherent to the methods that have yielded the greatest exoplanet hauls. On the basis of such surveys, one might consider our planetary system highly unusual - but the reality is that we are only now beginning to uncover the true picture. In this work, we use the full 18-yr archive of data from the Anglo-Australian Planet Search to examine the abundance of 'cool Jupiters' - analogues to the Solar system's giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn. We find that such planets are intrinsically far more common through the cosmos than their siblings, the hot Jupiters.We find that the occurrence rate of such 'cool Jupiters' is 6.73 +2.09 -1.13 per cent, almost an order of magnitude higher than the occurrence of hot Jupiters (at 0.84 +0.70 -0.20 per cent). We also find that the occurrence rate of giant planets is essentially constant beyond orbital distances of ~1 au. Our results reinforce the importance of legacy radial velocity surveys for the understanding of the Solar system's place in the cosmos.Peer reviewe

Successful isolation of viable adipose-derived stem cells from human adipose tissue subject to long-term cryopreservation: positive implications for adult stem cell-based therapeutics in patients of advanced age.

We examined cell isolation, viability, and growth in adipose-derived stem cells harvested from whole adipose tissue subject to different cryopreservation lengths (2-1159 days) from patients of varying ages (26-62 years). Subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue was excised during abdominoplasties and was cryopreserved. The viability and number of adipose-derived stem cells isolated were measured after initial isolation and after 9, 18, and 28 days of growth. Data were analyzed with respect to cryopreservation duration and patient age. Significantly more viable cells were initially isolated from tissue cryopreserved2 years, irrespective of patient age. However, this difference did not persist with continued growth and there were no significant differences in cell viability or growth at subsequent time points with respect to cryopreservation duration or patient age. Mesenchymal stem cell markers were maintained in all cohorts tested throughout the duration of the study. Consequently, longer cryopreservation negatively impacts initial live adipose-derived stem cell isolation; however, this effect is neutralized with continued cell growth. Patient age does not significantly impact stem cell isolation, viability, or growth. Cryopreservation of adipose tissue is an effective long-term banking method for isolation of adipose-derived stem cells in patients of varying ages

Periosteal Osteosarcoma: A Review of 17 Cases with Mean Follow-up of 52 Months

Purpose: Periosteal osteosarcomas are rare cartilage-rich bone tumours characterized by a juxtacortical eccentric position and are normally regarded oncologically as of intermediate to high grade.Their low incidence is mirrored by a small number of reported cases in the world literature. While there is general agreement that wide surgical excision is required, there is a paucity of evidence regarding adjuvant therapy. Previous reports have not indicated any consistent approach to this to allow appraisal